Keeping you informed of significant site updates and general news that relates to the World of Deb.

25 April 2014

It's a rainy ANZAC Day in Sydney and I'm doing some Debsite housework and updates, and generally resting after a busy few months working on various projects. I handled a big communications outreach project for a documentary being filmed about the 1954 Australian tour of Queen Elizabeth II. It's interesting as today marks the final day of a successful tour by her grandson Prince William and his wife Katherine, Duchess of Cambridge, and their baby, George. Sixty years on and Australia still loves a royal tour. I've also been interviewing some local media and entertainment "royalty" for the National Film & Sound Archive, for whom I've conducted more than 30 interviews now. Nine Network Entertainment Editor Richard Wilkins shared his colourful life and career with me, as did broadcasting pioneer Cherie Romaro, who in her earlier years was the Music Director at 2SM. When she finally caught up with my 2SM page here on the Debsite, she told me it is great, but wondered why she isn't featured on it. I tried to explain that the site is a chronicle of being an avid and active listener of the station in the seventies, not an industry-insider behind-the-scene rundown. I'm not sure that she got it, but did invite her to contribute any material that could add some more depth to the page. Another interview that I have done is with Sven Libaek, a quite legendary composer, arranger, conductor, pianist, record company executive and actor to boot. I love interviewing someone I knew little about before  it makes the experience even more interesting for me.

I mentioned in my New Year news update, below, that I was popping back over to Hawaii for a brief visit. I was lucky enough to be invited to the opening of Dior's newly renovated boutique in Waikiki at the end of January, and as I have added fashion to my field of experise, alongside entertainment, lifestyle and tourism, in my PR and writing practice, it was wonderful to be a part of such a major event. While I haven't created a page about the event here on the Debsite at this stage, I will be writing about it on Flights of Fashion, my blog that is starting to come to life and worth checking out if you are fashionistically inclined.

I have added more books to the Essential Reading page, where you can now find out about Linda Ronstadt's beautiful memoir, Simple Dreams; Graham Nash's equally fabulous Wild Tales; Mat Snow's edited anthology of Nick Cave interviews, Nick Cave - Sinner Saint: The True Confessions (which contains my lengthy Q&A with Cave from Songwriters Speak); and Australian author Jeff Apter's latest, Up From Down Under.

Speaking of Linda... Just over a year ago in LA I was at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart were inducted, along with the great composer, songwriter and singer, Randy Newman. The latter was inducted by Don Henley. A week later, in London, I sat in the front row at a major press conference for the Eagles and asked Mr Henley how he felt about the shameful ommission of Linda Ronstadt from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He made some wry comments about the Hall of Fame and then Glenn Frey made some impassioned comments about the importance of Linda and how she should belong in every possible hall of fame. How glorious that a year later Glenn was the one to make the speech to induct Linda, at last, into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. While Linda was not well enough to fly to New York to attend, Glenn and a veritable bevy of great female rock artists paid tribute to her in fine style. On my final night in LA last September I went along, with photograher Henry Diltz, to a Q&A night with Linda in Santa Monica about her memoir, which had just been released. After the formal session, Linda's long-time friend and producer and current manager, John Boylan, found Henry and me and took us to a private room where Linda was meeting with a handful of people. On the way upstairs, I mentioned to John that I had interviewed Linda at length in 1998. His response was, "Yes, and we have used that interview extensively in our research for this book and book tour." What better accolade is there for a journalist than that? If you have never read the interview I did with Linda, it is here. When I chatted with Linda that night in Santa Monica, she did remember the interview and me. I said that as I had been too shy to ask for a photo back then, I wondered if she would oblige me now. Henry took the non-flash shadowy photo that now sits framed in my Sydney living room. The photo of me and Don from the Eagles press conference in London sits on my office desk right next to me as I type this, and I guess it's time I share that with you, too. Click on the thumbnails for bigger views.

Finally, before I wrap this uncharacteristically long news flash, I should make note of the fact that I saw Kris Kristofferson in concert here in Sydney two weeks ago. He's old and craggy but watching him alone on stage with his songs I felt I had rarely witnessed a performance so humble and open. I am glad that I saw him at least once in my life. And in his.

20 January 2014

Welcome to another year, coming up to twelve years now since the Debsite was first uploaded. How kind of you to check in and read this, given that for the past few years my updates have been so rare and scattered. My "To Do" list of site updates is so long now and stretches back to 2008!! But I still have this notion that I will get them done. Especially as the feedback I often get about the site these days is "I love your blog" and words to that effect, which really riles me. This is NOT a blog! I put up debbiekruger.com before blogs were even referred to. As I posted just a couple of entries below, I have started a separate site that is a blog (haven't gotten too far along with it yet, but it is there waiting for me) but this website is a website, far more extensive and detailed than blogs are. It might just be semantics, but it's an important distinction to me. Reading back on this little rant, I realise that it is more like a blog entry than a website update - ha!! But it's at least getting my fingers moving on the keyboard, and as I have been suffering all kinds of writers block over the past year or so, just moving the fingers on the keyboard has to be good.

Anyway, Happy New Year from summer in Sydney. This time last year I was in Hawaii. Sigh. Actually, I will be back there next week for a brief visit. You might even get to read about it! Meanwhile, I have been doing a lot of reading, including some music books, so will get those reviews posted swiftly. There is much tinkering around to do on the site as I am aware of links that are out of date, especially in the Broadcaster section, and the ever-popular 2SM page could use some updates based on new material collected from avid fans... and on it goes. There, now that I have put this stuff down I will have to follow through! Stay tuned, as always.

7 October 2013

I landed back in Sydney ten days ago and I guess I have been in denial about it as it took this long to change the weather widget on my front page. But now it's done. The weather is not a problem in Sydney; springtime here is not too bad. It does feel very odd to be back in Australia after fifteen months of incredible travels. Travels which, I regret to say, I did not document very expansively on the Debsite as I promised to do. Nor did I do years of updates that are long overdue. I have been getting very lazy with this site. In the world of Facebook and blogging, an old-fashioned personal website seems outmoded, although that does not mean I am quitting this space. Never, not at all! I will get all the updates done if it's the last thing I do.

Blogging, however, has become the holy grail of web presence and as a late adopter in many things technological (my iPhone is four years old), the one thing that kept coming up during my travels  my very stylish travels  was urging from friends old and new to chart my adventures in fashion and travel in a blog form. I resisted and resisted and then decided it was a fine idea. So Flights of Fashion has been launched. There isn't much there yet, but if you take a first look and join the email list for updates, you'll be the first to know when I've added something new. The blog will be the place where much of my most recent travelling will be documented, but I still do plan on expanding the Jetsetter section here on the Debsite. In an ideal world all I would do each day for work is update my website and blog. (And lie in the sun... and go shopping...) But in fact I am back in Australia to work, and will be based in Sydney for the time being. Stay tuned for updates on all of that.

30 July 2013

I got back to Los Angeles more than two weeks ago, after my month back in Hawaii, and got so busy and happy settling into my Santa Monica home I forgot to change the weather widget on the Debsite front page. Now done. I am in a darling little cottage-style unit only seven blocks from Santa Monica Beach. Morning walks, strolls on Montana Avenue, short drive up to Malibu... Loving it! Interestingly, I am just a few blocks away from an apartment I stayed in for seven months almost 15 years ago. So this is the second time on my epic sojourn that I've come back to a neighbourhood I spent time in long ago. (Belsize Park in London being the other, although I see reading back down this page that I never commented on that. Oh well.) Santa Monica in the summer is divine, although the marine layer that clouds over and fogs up the coastline can be irritating. But as everyone knows, I completely love LA. Best place to be for me right now, to see out the northern hemisphere summer.

28 June 2013

Gosh, another update! This one is long overdue. More than two years ago I interviewed the wonderful and super nice radio man David White  aka The Mighty Whitey  about his career for the National Film & Sound Archive's Oral History program, and was given permission to transcribe it for the 2SM page. Finally I have uploaded it and Whitey's Wisdom is yours for the reading. It's not just for 2SM fans, but also for Triple M, 2DAY FM and TV current affairs fans. But mainly for 2SM fans, I guess, as my questioning, naturally, focused mainly on that era. There was only one SM and there has only ever been one Mighty Whitey.

27 June 2013

It's a year since I left Australia. I've taken 21 flights, five train journeys, crossed the Pacific and Atlantic oceans nine times and increased my luggage significantly. And I'm still going. Here in Hawaii I am reading, writing and planning my next few months of travel. And here are a few little updates:

A new addition to the Essential Reading page is Burt Bacharach's autobiography, revealing that his personality is not as wonderful as his songs. An easy read over a few days on the beach.

In late April in London I went to an Eagles press conference - yay! - as the boys were in town to launch their History of the Eagles film at the London Sundance Festival and do a Q&A there, which I also attended. I wrote a piece for Rhythms Magazine back in Australia, which is now listed on the Freelance Writing section of the Debsite or you can link to it directly here. I also had my photo taken with Don Henley, a moment of immense delight for me, and possibly him, you never know. One of these days I will post that photo on the Debsite.

While you're there, you can check out a story I wrote in 2011 based on a trip to Philadelphia which, I notice scrolling down this News page, I never even informed you of. That year was pitifully short on Debsite updates. But you can read my story on the soul of Philly here.

17 June 2013

London was a whirlwind of wedding activities, seeing friends, eating too much, going to great theatre, and dealing with abominably bad weather. There is only one season in London  winter  and the occasional nice day is a surprise, never a given. So while my cousins are precious to me, I could not put up with London weather any longer, and headed back to LA on June 6, spent five days in a jetlag haze, and then landed back in Hawaii last week. I'm back in Kailua, house-sitting and dog-sitting for the lovely people I rented my holiday cottage from over the winter here. Lucky me! Hoping to get some writing done, maybe even some Debsite updates done (yeah, right) and get my tan back. The anniversary of my house sale and departure from Byron Bay passed last week, and it's almost one year since I set off on this big journey, zig-zagging the northern hemisphere, back and forth between the US and Europe. Do I miss Australia? No. Will I return? Yes. I'll keep you posted.

22 April 2013

Hello there, I am now back in London for a while. Big events happening here with my cousin Niccy's wedding next month, and cultural activities galore. I have been terrible at keeping you up to date on my travels but so much will be happening here that I will endeavour to document it all on the Debsite.

I am conscious that I have not uploaded a list of my Ten Best CDs for 2012. I need to look into that but off the top of my head I can only think of three or four albums that stuck with me, which is sad. Meanwhile I have been reading lots of books, including three major music memoirs that I have now reviewed on the Essential Reading page by Ann & Nancy Wilson of Heart, Carole King, and Clive Davis. Worth checking out.

Speaking of Heart, I was very lucky to be in the audience at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in LA last week to see Heart inducted, along with Randy Newman, Albert King, Donna Summer, Lou Adler, Quincy Jones, Rush and Public Enemy (the latter-mentioned was excruciating to sit through). I was just so happy to see Ann and Nancy Wilson honoured (but cannot fathom why Linda Ronstadt still has not been) and the tribute to Randy Newman, featuring Jackson Browne, Tom Petty and John Fogerty singing "I Love LA" with him, as well as Don Henley giving the induction speech and dueting with Newman on "I'm Dead (But I Don't Know It)" was brilliant. I love LA, too.

25 March 2013

Well, I was just way too busy feeling the aloha spirit during my lovely long break in Hawaii to report to you on any of it! Sorry. I am back in Los Angeles for a stint and about to celebrate Passover with friends who are like family. And then, who knows, maybe I will actually get some updates done on the Debsite! I have been gone from Australia for nine months now. So much going on in the rest of the world so I think I will stay away longer.

1 January 2013

Happy New Year from Los Angeles, where I have been laid up with the flu for most of the past few weeks. Not surprising that it's all caught up with me. Travel is fun but it can be exhausting. I've been away from Australia for more than six months. Before I left I was going through a long period of stress with selling my beautiful house and packing up my life in Byron Bay. It's amazing I got through most of the past couple of years without getting sick, but now I am. So I am mainly resting, and in 12 days I will be back in Hawaii, where I will be staying for the rest of the northern hemisphere winter. I'll report back to you from there. Meanwhile, although I have been slack in updating photos (which I have been promising to do for years), I have put together a montage of highlights from the past six months overseas. You can see it fully by clicking on the smaller version below. I hope the next year is as happy for me as I look in these photos, and I hope it's a great year for you. Thanks for checking in.

22 November 2012

Three months on and I've been in many places having countless adventures... Quick summary: from France at the end of August to London where I based myself for two months, with side trips to Bucharest and Madrid. In London I celebrated some huge events with my closest cousins - a 60th birthday, a 30th birthday and an engagement party, as well as catching up with some very special old friends that I hadn't seen for many years. Then to Philadelphia, where I spent 17 days, with side trips to New York and Washington DC. And now I am in St Paul, Minnesota for a traditional Thanksgiving, before I push on to Nashville, Dallas, San Francisco and then Los Angeles for Christmas and New Year. And yes, it is still my intention to update on all things Deb, show you lots of great photos, write all about my adventures not just lately but over the past few years, and more. We must all live in hope. Happy Thanksgiving.

16 August 2012

Well, I turned 50 two days ago. It happens to us all if we're lucky enough to survive half a century. I had a lovely dinner in Aix-en-Provence with my cousins from London, Cyndy and Niccy, along with Nic's fiancee Rob and my Provence-based friend and hostess Vanessa. I actually had a series of dinners, lunches and other celebratory outings over the past week, and the fun continues as I have declared the whole of August my celebration month.

I'm heading to Cannes for 10 days on the Riviera this weekend and hope to report soon on more joie de vivre.

6 August 2012

Well, so much has happened in the last few months it's hard to know how to announce it on this much-neglected Debsite News page. But here it is. I sold Club Deb and left Byron Bay. I packed away all my belongings and put them in storage in Sydney. I left Australia on June 27 and don't know when I'll be back! The world is now my home. I really do want to update this site with all that has taken place in the last few years and keep you updated with where I am... And I will try to find down time during my travels to do just that. At the very least I will endeavour to keep the weather widget on my front page updated so you know where I am. Right now I am in the village of Rognes, near Aix-en-Provence, France, where next week I'll be celebrating my 50th birthday - mon dieu! Stay tuned for updates.

23 May 2012

It's been sitting on my desk for months waiting to be added to the Essential Reading page and now finally it has been. It's the latest Freddie Mercury bio by Lesley Ann Jones, worth a read. I needed to get it off my desk because...

I'm packing. Big time. After I moved back to Byron Bay from Sydney in 2006, and then my mother died in 2007, I realised that I had more belongings than one person ever should have, and after renovating and extending Club Deb so that everything could fit, I could not possibly move again. And yet I am. Big changes ahead. Details to follow.

I must mention the very sad news of the death of Robin Gibb this week. We all knew it was coming, yet it didn't make it easier to accept. My heart goes out to Barry Gibb, one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time, who finds himself the last man standing. I hope he finds a way to continue making music and talking about the music he has made and the legacy he and his brothers have created for time eternal. Barry Gibb is my Mecca of interviews and I hope one day to sit with him and hear him talk to me about his life and work. Meanwhile, Vale Robin Gibb, and condolences to his family and all Bee Gees fans around the world.

15 April 2012

It just occurred to me that debbiekruger.com is 10 years old this month! In fact I uploaded the first pages on 6 April 2002. I have used the same web hosting company, Esosoft, the entire time. Thankfully they have increased their disk space allowance as the Debsite has increased its size and content. I still have a long list of updates that need to be done, and the Jetsetter section has still not really taken shape the way I intended, but it will. Especially as I intend to be jetsetting more than ever in times ahead. Thanks to those of you who have checked in regularly since I started my own site. This is NOT a blog. I hate that word. This is a proper website with lots and lots of nooks and crannies to explore. I always like to say that it's like Hotel California... you can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. Happy Birthday to the Debsite!

2 April 2012

Just back from a nine-day trip to Melbourne, Geelong and Sydney for a wedding, a 50th birthday party and catching up with seriously good friends. I have so many photos from the last few years of my life waiting to be added to the Debsite so I hope I can share these adventures with you soon. Meanwhile I am still tinkering away at the 2SM page, and have added a real treasure, the 1979 Remarkable Mouth TV commercial. I could watch it all day long!

18 March 2012

I have just spent the better part of a month updating the 2SM page, which is now so massive I can hardly believe it myself. More than 170 audio files, loads of video links, more memories, new sections including a page on the Little River Band Summer Magic free concert, plus three years of emails added to the 2SM Feedback page. There is more to come, with major interviews done with David White and Ian MacRae to be added, and still more audio and video treasures on their way. I dare say it is the best tribute page to a radio station on the web anywhere in the world. Check it out. (But, in the immortal words of Don Henley, you can ever leave...)

4 March 2012

Here's something I neglected to mention when it happened... The National Library of Australia selected the Debsite for preservation in its Pandora Archive. This means that whether the site is active or not (but hopefully it always will be), it will always remain as an archived piece of internet history, accessible through the Pandora search facility. There's a button now at the bottom of my front page to indicate this honour.

The Academy Awards last week were in one word awesome! I enjoyed the Oscars more this year than I have for so long. Billy Crystal was back and still had the goods. I had seen every nominated film and enjoyed most of them. Jean Dujardin is my new George Clooney, so I was happy for him, and for The Artist, to pick up the main awards. And wasn't it great to see Meryl Streep win after a 30-year gap, for her magnificent portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady? I was on a high for most of last week after such a great Oscars.

And meanwhile I have been very occupied working on an updated version of my 2SM page. It is going to be bigger than Ben Hur when it is relaunched, hopefully very soon. So stay tuned and don't touch that dial.

1 March 2012 (29 February in the US)

More sad news in the music world today with the passing of Davy Jones of the Monkees, a great entertainer in every sense. RIP.

16 February 2012

Sad news today that the founder and original guitarist and songwriter of Sherbet, Clive Shakespeare, has died after a long illness. Tomorrow is the anniversary of Gimme That Guitar! the tribute concert I worked on for Clive's replacement guitarist, Harvey James, who died a year ago. So my sweet band is more depleted. "Silvery Moon" and "Summer Love", among many other songs, would never have come to be without Clive Shakespeare. RIP.

15 February 2012

It's been a summer of serious music memoir reading. I absolutely loved Keith Richards' Life, which I finally submitted to. It's as fantastic as everyone had been telling me. In the Australian Music section, I've added Richard Wilkins' book of anecdotes from his world of celebrity interviewing, which provided me with lots of chuckles, but I was less impressed with Jeff Apter's Marc Hunter bio. Read all my reviews and catch up on what other great books you should read if you haven't already, at the Essential Reading page.

Summer arrived in Byron Bay last weekend and to my amazement it is still here. Time for another dip in the pool, then.

13 February 2012

Yes, it's been a long time coming. 44 days into the new year and I'm only just saying hello now. I will catch up with my Debsite updates. I will I will I will. Sigh... I hope your new year is going well so far. Byron Bay, in fact the whole east coast of Australia, is having the wettest, coolest summer in more than 50 years. That is more than my lifetime. I am so over it, I need a new word for "over". (I borrowed that line from Sex and the City.) Seriously, it's not fun.

Having just watched The Grammys, I thought I should at least put my ten best albums of 2011 up on the Top Ten Lists page. Head on over and don't even try to convince me that I should have included Bon Iver (I tried to like it, really) or Lady Gaga (I didn't bother trying, not at all). The music is all class on my list, mainly women, without too much adornment and with voices you can adore for eternity.

One titbit I will give you now before I get back to some genuine updating... I spent five weeks over December and January filling in as an executive producer at Sydney radio station 2GB. It was a fascinating experience. I certainly do not belong in the newsradio field, being a music radio person, but I learned a lot about what I like and don't like in the media. Enough said.

24 November 2011

Another book has been added to the Essential Reading page. Little Girl Blue, The Life of Karen Carpenter, is really heartbreaking.

4 November 2011

I won't even insult my loyal Debsite visitors by trying to justify the long yawning gap between updates. I'll just tell you that I have added two new book reviews to the Essential Reading page, one of which is Brian Cadd's memoir and the other a book about the music scene in 1970 focusing on the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkle, James Taylor and CSNY. I wish I had more news for you now, but all of that will be in another update, hopefully not another eight months away.

25 March 2011

I've put together a very detailed page all about Gimme That Guitar!, the tribute concert for Sherbet's Harvey James that I worked on so devotedly for a couple of months. Even since the concert on February 17 there has been more media coverage and ongoing buzz. My Gimme That Guitar! page follows the progress of the event from planning to rehearsals to soundcheck to showtime, with lots of great photos. There are also links to much of the extensive media coverage I achieved for the event and for Harvey's legacy, including terrific radio and TV clips. So head on over and check it all out.

I've also been busy working with a local Byron Bay singer-songwriter, Susanna Carman, on her new CD release, Circus Girl. I've just come in from a lovely intimate house concert she did tonight to launch the album to friends and supporters. She's on the media trail so look out for news and reviews of her album, or head over to my Kruger PRofiles page, where you can find a link to Susanna's own website.

3 February 2011

Summer finally arrived in Byron Bay towards the end of last month and we are currently sweltering in high classic summer temps. It's hot and sticky but I love it. Floods and cyclones have been ravaging the east coast of Australia but Byron Bay has been safe so far.

I've finally gone through my hundreds of Eagles photos from their concerts in Sydney and Brisbane last December and put them on a page called Eagles in Australia 2010.Of course.

20 January 2011

Only three days after announcing the concert for Sherbet's Harvey James, we got the news that sadly Harvey had lost his battle with cancer. If that wasn't horrid enough, the next day more shocking news came through, about the death of Cold Chisel drummer Steve Prestwich. Harvey and Steve were friends. Chisel guitarist Ian Moss is part of the Gimme That Guitar concert. It is all very close to home. And music fans around Australia are in mourning this week. Sherbet fans cannot quite believe that one of their beautiful boys has gone. The updated press release on Gimme That Guitar is on the Kruger PRofiles page.

12 January 2011

I'm starting the year with a really special PR project that is close to my heart. Harvey James, lead guitarist from my favourite Australian 70s pop group, Sherbet, is battling lung cancer, and a benefit concert called Gimme That Guitar is being held for him in Sydney next month. The information and links are all on the Kruger PRofiles page. It's going to sell out quickly, so if you want to see Sherbet in concert one more time, grab a ticket now.

4 January 2011

Happy New Year to Debsite visitors. Hope it's a good one for you, and hope it's a much better one for me than last year. Since the start of summer I've been reading new music books avidly, so head over to the Essential Reading page to find out about the terrific memoirs from Danny Seraphine (Chicago's original drummer and founding member) and Rick Springfield (not only a manic depressive, but a sex addict - who knew?). I also read a much more sedate book by first-time author John Tait about Vanda & Young, Australia's greatest songwriting and production duo.

31 December 2010

As 2010 draws to a close - thankfully - I've put up my annual ten best albums list on the Top Ten Lists page. It wasn't a fabulous year for music for me, as for a lot of the time I just wasn't in the mood to listen to CDs at all. I know, it's outrageous! Nevertheless, I acquired some interesting new albums and have re-listened to them over the past week to clarify the order I want them in. Go check it out. I will follow soon with photos and reviews of the Eagles and Chicago tours and other Debsite updates are in the works. In the meantime, Happy New Year!

15 November 2010

I've updated the Kruger PRofiles page with more clients. Busy, busy. I've also added a new book to the Essential Reading page, the just-released memoir by Australian rock promoter Michael Chugg. I was underwhelmed, but perhaps you'd like it more, so as always there is a link to buy it online. I have a nice pile of music books to read over the summer. I'm part-way into Rick Springfield's autobiography and when I can tear my eyes away from the gorgeous cover photo, I am enjoying the candid tales of his youth. More when I'm done.

12 November 2010

Chicago finishes its Australian tour today in Perth. I am not in Perth. I saw three shows and will put together a comprehensive report with photos as soon as possible. I am back in Byron catching up on boring things like accounts and house cleaning. All I will say now is that the tour was not quite what I hoped it would be. The Eagles arrive in less than two weeks and I am looking forward to those shows, with no expectations beyond enjoying the music. A better way to be.

26 October 2010

The day has finally arrived  the day when Chicago the band arrives back in Sydney for the first time in nearly 32 years!!! I have a huge couple of weeks ahead. Off to Sydney today and will see the boys in concert (with America and Peter Frampton) tomorrow night. Brian Wilson joins the lineup in Brisbane this Saturday night and a week later the Hunter Valley. So I'll be moving around. I hope to spend lots of quality time with the guys and report back with stories and photos. If only the ghastly east coast spring weather would behave.

17 October 2010

Everything in my life is affected by the weather, so it would be an understatement to say that I have been struggling through an abysmal spring in Byron Bay. Inexcusably atrocious weather and even on the rare sunny day, still very cold. It's shameful, and whoever is responsible needs a good hiding. Beyond that, I am looking forward to the arrival in just over one week of Chicago and their first Australian tour in nearly 32 years. Of course I will let you know all about it.

I hoped to be back on air on BAY FM this summer but it's not to be, and I doubt I will ever get Debbie Does Breakfast back on the airwaves, so alas I have changed a few things on the Debbie Does Breakfast page to indicate that. Where to next, I wonder...

1 Rocktober 2010

I thought it was about time I did something new on the 2SM page, which continues to get noticed as more discerning Sydney radio listeners realise that the best days of commercial music radio are long long gone. It's the first of October - which means Rocktober - so I've added a link where on any given day you can hear one of the many 2SM Rocktober promos that made the month even groovier. Oh bring back 1977. Please. PS. Only 26 days until the Chicago tour begins!

27 September 2010

It's a long time since I have had a new freelance article to add to the Debsite, but with Chicago arriving in Australia in just one month, I had to do something! Fortunately my favourite editor at The Australian newspaper agreed. My 2010-style full-page story on the band with a potted history for those who needed it can be viewed here.

30 August 2010

Well that went too fast! Back from Hawaii a couple of days ago and it's still winter in Byron Bay, darn it. But I had a lovely lovely time in the tropics. Another bunch of photos waiting in line for uploading. Meanwhile, back to real life.

11 August 2010

Aloha! I've made it back to heavenly Hawaii and will be relaxing here for the next couple of weeks. Bliss.

29 July 2010

Not much to report from continuously wet and wintery Byron. Looking forward to escaping next month for a short vacation in Aloha Land. Since last I checked in, the Rodeo Rockfest project came to an abrupt end  pity about sponsors who don't keep their word and event companies who are not set up to deal with unreliable sponsors. Such is life. I'm still busy with National Film & Sound Archive interviews and spent a great few hours with Deborah Conway earlier this month in that guise. Meanwhile, I have added a new book to my Essential Reading page, the first in quite a while, because music books haven't been high on my reading pile lately. Anyway, this one was Mark Seymour's Thirteen Tonne Theory, published a couple of years ago, which I read earlier this year but was not inspired enough to add to my review page until now. Check it out anyway.

Fortunately the current influx of new album releases is more inspiring. As I write I am melting away to the sounds of Jimmy Webb's new album of duets, Just Across The River, and the new Jackson Browne & David Lindley, Love Is Strange, is next on today's playlist. Eagerly awaiting my copies of Sheryl Crow and Sarah McLachlan's newies and, most exciting, a new Heart album, Red Velvet Car, due on August 31.

9 July 2010

This is a bad winter in Byron Bay. Winter is bad anywhere, but usually we get plenty of sunshine. Not this year. Gloomy cloudy rainy crappy winter weather. Putting-on-weight weather. Anything-to-keep-warm weather. This time last year I was in London. Or was that Berlin...? I was far from here, that's for sure. I think I can feel the call of Oahu...

28 June 2010

It's been a busy week just passed, with a trip to Sydney, a mad flurry of ticket-buying activity for those concerts mentioned below, and a new client. Find out about Rodeo Rockfest, an exciting new event I will be doing PR for over the months ahead, by clicking through to the Kruger PRofiles page.

Both my 2SM and Songwriters Speak sections of the Debsite now have some presence on Facebook! Join the Songwriters Speak Facebook page if you would like to see a new expanded edition published in 2011. And share your former 2SM junkieism by joining the 2SM Facebook group where you can interact with some of the old 1270 DJs. Gotta love a bit of social networking.

21 June 2010

OK, this girl is spinning out!! I knew, as reported below, that Chicago was coming out to Australia, and I also knew they were touring with America. The Peter Frampton thing was a surprise, but a nice surprise. But now the announcement of an Eagles tour as well... It's just all too much and I am having palpitations. Just wanted to share that with you.

On the work front, I am about to sign a big contract to do PR for a major new event taking place over the months ahead. More on that imminently. After I deal with these palpitations...

17 June 2010

Bit by bit I will get this site up to date! I've just added a page all about the PR work I did with iconic photographer/model/ex-celebrity wife, Pattie Boyd, who was in Sydney last December for an exhibition of her work. Lots of fun photos of Pattie with the media and music types at the opening night. All the details are here.

13 June 2010

It's a long weekend here in Australia, and the full force of winter is making its presence felt, even here in Byron Bay, so I am holed up in the homestead making beef bourguignon and doing a few Debsite updates. Wonders will never cease. Here's one for you Chicago fans out there, and by that I mean the band rather than the city. Incredibly, they are coming to Australia in October/November of this year for a national tour. I thought I should get over to the Chicago section of the ever-popular Music & Mayhem page and tweak the content here and there, including adding a video clip from their January 1979 concert.

17 May 2010

So much for new year's resolutions. Sorry! The Debsite is still begging for updates. All I can offer for now are some additions to my client list on the Kruger PRofiles page, and a new set of Hot Links on the home page. Interesting to find my 1994 interview with cabinet maker Geoffrey Hannah turn up in my top 5 URLs for the past month. It's because he's just completed a new work and has been getting lots of media coverage for it, so people are busy googling him.

This time last year I was preparing to escape winter in Australia for an epic four-month overseas trip. Alas this year I am destined to suffer through the winter, so I will be ensconsed at Club Deb working away and perhaps Debsite updates will start to appear for real.

3 January 2010

Happy New Year to you!!! I don't make new year resolutions any more, but I will strive to update the Debsite more often and catch up on more than a year's worth of photos and experiences while 2010 is still fresh.

For now, you can check out my new lists on the Top Ten Lists page. I've put up my ten best albums for 2009, and as we've just seen the end of the decade, I've also put up my ten best albums of the Noughties and my ten best songs of the Noughties. Worth checking out.

Just a reminder, if you fancy hearing the BAY FM programs I presented over Christmas and New year where I counted down my top ten lists on air, I have made pocasts available for a limited time. You can dowload the shows here.

27 December 2009

I hope my Debsite visitors are enjoying the festive season. Byron Bay is hot, sultry and steamy. Perfect swimming weather, so I'm doing plenty of that, and perfect weather for being holed up in a radio station where the air conditioning is blasting icy air through the studio. Good thing I have some slots at BAY FM at the moment (see last news item below). I'm making the shows available to listen to online or download for a limited time. Click here to be entertained by Debbie Does Breakfast.

21 December 2009

Debbie Does Breakfast will be resurrected in odd timeslots over the next couple of weeks as I kindly fill in for some presenters who are unavailable to do their own programs on BAY FM over the holidays. I figure even if I am doing the show mid-afternoon or at night, somewhere in the world it's breakfast time. To find out when I will be on air and listen live, go to the Debbie Does Breakfast page and click on "Listen Live!" This Thursday (Australia time) I'll be counting down my top ten CDs of 2009. On Friday (Christmas) night, I'll be playing my top ten hit singles of the decade, and next week, on New Years Eve afternoon, I'll be counting down my top ten CDs of the Noughties. These are essential listening, so check out the listening times for where you live and make a note to tune in online.

8 December 2009

I've just come through a frantically busy patch with two trips to Sydney  the first for my Killara High School 30 Year reunion, the second for work, where I was looking after publicity for an exhibition of photos by Pattie Boyd, iconic '60s model and wife of George Harrison and Eric Clapton (sequentially  not simultaneously!). Pattie was in Sydney and it was very busy schlepping her around town for the many radio and TV interviews I lined up for her. So all of this means, of course, that I have even more photos and news to add to the site... AND I WILL! This summer it's Project Debsite and I will have everything updated for you soon.

11 November 2009

After more than six weeks back home in Byron Bay  getting slowly back into the routine of my quiet life there, working away at various projects, enjoying spring, the growing garden, the swimming pool, the fresh air  I have flown down to Sydney today for six days. The main reason is the major social event of the year, my Killara High School Class of '79 reunion. Yes, a 30-year reunion. It's going to be a blast, and you can trust that at some stage, hopefully sooner rather than later, I will post details and photos of the night here on the Debsite. It's on the list. A list that I really will get to over the summer.

25 September 2009

Today I have arrived back in Sydney and will be here a couple of days before getting home to Byron. And finally, some time after that, I can catch you up on everything! What an amazing four months I have had.

27 August 2009

After four fabulous days in the Windy City I am now in Los Angeles, where I can stay put for four weeks. Looking forward to spending time with good friends, enjoying the non-stop sunshine, and I guess trying to psyche myself into the idea of going home when my time here is done. Until then, it's LA in the sunshine for me.

22 August 2009

I had a fabulous birthday in London with family and friends, and a fairly frantic last week here. Today I fly back to the US for the last phase of my big journey. Dinner tonight in Chicago.

12 August 2009

Back in London today after 12 glorious days in France. Paris was fabulous, my first time back for 18 years. Then down to Aix-en-Provence where my friend Vanessa is now living with her dashing French man and their new twin babies. Aix is a gorgeous town, and the surrounding region is beautiful. Didn't get to the Riviera, but was still able to catch plenty of sun and get that Hawaiian tan back somewhat. I am so looking forward to getting all the photos up on the Debsite... really, I am. I do want to share. Anyway, I'll be back in London now for another 10 days, and am about to start several days of celebrations for my birthday, which happens on Friday. I'm a Leo, so remember, all good wishes are welcome.

30 July 2009

Today's Thursday, must be Paris...

20 July 2009

Today I fly to Bucharest, Romania. It is the city of my mother's birth, and I am going on a kind of pilgrimage  partly for research, partly to simply breathe in the air of my mother's first home town. I feel daunted and excited. Wish me luck.

14 July 2009

Time really flies when traveling! Since last I checked in, I've been back to New York, out to the Pennsylvania Dutch (Amish) country, down to Washington DC, spent more time exploring Philadelphia, then last week flew to London, then to Berlin, where I am now as I write, about to head to the airport to return to London. Phew! All the while I have been spending time with dear friends, old and new, wonderful family, and absorbing a world that is rich in culture and history and personal significance. When I get around to posting all the photos and stories from this trip it will be a fabulous part of the Jetsetter section of the Debsite. Alas, I still haven't even done last August's Los Angeles trip! What can I say? Just stay tuned and it will all come together eventually.

23 June 2009

I'm having a fine time on the US east coast, crappy weather notwithstanding. Last week in New York I saw Chicago and Earth Wind & Fire play together at Madison Square Garden and discovered Manhattan's best breakfast spot - the best! On the weekend I was "down the shore" on the New Jersey coast. In between the to-ing and fro-ing, Philadelphia is a friendly, charming and very accessible city. And today I head back up to New York to catch up with a load of friends and do a little business. Much fun.

13 June 2009

After eight days of non-stop eating in San Francisco and the East Bay, trying to warm myself up in the rather cold Northern California "summer", I have now arrived in Philadelphia, City of Brotherly Love, where I will be based for the next few weeks. This is the city where my mother grew up. There are relatives and friends here, in New York and in Washington DC, so I am going to be busy while on the US east coast. I'll try to check in and let you know what I'm doing. Tonight I had my first Philly Cheesesteak. I have to admit it was really good. My mother would have been chuffed.

5 June 2009

Such a lovely, relaxing, sunkissed time was had in Hawaii, on the beautiful island of Oahu. I based myself in Waikiki for eight days but spent a day each on the north shore, basking on the magnificent beach of Waimea Bay, and in Kailua, enjoying the exquisiteness of Lanikai Beach. Ahh... I am rested and excited about my ongoing journey. I write this from San Francisco, in the home of my friend Eric, bass singer from Chanticleer, and his lovely wife Dorothee. It's five years since I was last in San Francisco, and although the weather is not as balmy as it was in Hawaii, I am really looking forward to walking around in my favourite neighbourhoods and reacquainting myself with one of the best cities in the world. And next Monday I head to Lafayette, outside of SF, to stay with some relatives from my mother's side of the family. Life is good.

27 May 2009

After a week of crazy, scary weather on the NSW north coast  cyclonic winds, floods and more  I have escaped to a warmer and more tranquil setting. In fact, I am escaping to all manner of settings over the next few months. The best way to see where I am is by checking the weather button on my front page, which I hope to keep updated as I go. Right now I am in Hawaii, just a block or so back from my beloved Waikiki Beach. By the end of next week I'll be in San Francisco. And then... watch and see! It would have been nice if I could have uploaded all the photos and news from my LA trip last August before I set off yet again, but I know you forgive me for my lateness in Debsite updates. There has been much else keeping me occupied. I will endeavour to get everything up to date while I am away from the distractions of life at Club Deb.

7 May 2009

As winter descends on Byron Bay, I am getting ready to decamp. Yes, new travels are imminent. Consequently I have had to temporarily cease doing my weekly Debbie Does Breakfast radio show, but all being well I should be back on air in November. Meanwhile, I'll carry on with my preparations and give you all the news soon enough.

13 April 2009

What is there better to do on a soggy Easter Monday than some Debsite updates? I am certainly not trekking through the mud again at the Bluesfest site. I did go along to the East Coast Blues & Roots Festival on Friday to see the wonderful Rodney Crowell  truly superb  but all thoughts of returning were dampened by the constant rain over the whole Easter period and the disgusting putrid unhygenic state of the Belongil Fields site where the festival is on. Oceans of mud, nowhere to sit. Gross. I was going to see Augie March today, but instead I am at home adding dogs to the Canine Friends page. Head on over to check out Joe, Bella, Mogy, Copper and the incomparably adorable Ollie.

8 April 2009

Now that we've all turned our clocks back in Australia, and forward in the northern hemisphere, I've adjusted the times that you can still listen to my radio show online around the world. Just head over to the Debbie Does Breakfast page for the details. If you haven't had a chance to tune in yet, don't waste time. I'm only on air until the end of April, and then I am taking a break through the winter.

Passover is here and matzoh with butter is de rigueur. Easter is nearly here and chocolate eggs are de rigueur. The wet season is here in Byron Bay and so it's East Coast Blues & Roots Festival time. I missed the Bluesfest last year as I was in London seeing the Eagles (as you do), but this year I will be there, raincoat and all. Looking forward mostly to seeing Rodney Crowell and Augie March.

4 March 2009

More clips are available for your listening pleasure on the Debbie Does Breakfast page, including a lengthy excerpt from last week's show when I played a selection of great movie songs nominated for, and sometimes winning, Academy Awards in years past. All because I was lamenting the demise of the great movie song, given that the nominated songs this year were so dreary. Otherwise it was a great Oscars and I was thrilled that Sean Penn and Kate Winslet won for their stunning performances in Milk and The Reader respectively. The best Oscars wrap is always to be found at LaineyGossip.

13 February 2009

It's pouring in Byron. Normally I would hate that, but my garden desperately needed a drenching, so as long as it doesn't stay damp and cool like this for more than a couple of days, I'll be fine. I was in Sydney earlier this week when the cool change came through and it was freeeezing! Anyway, the reason for this news update is just a new audio clip from my radio program, so if you go to the Debbie Does Breakfast page you can hear me rave on about Chicago, the Eagles and the Electric Light Orchestra.

4 February 2009

Well, there is good news on the Facebook front, and finally, nearly three weeks on, my account has been restored to me. Now I remember how distracting it is!!

The Debsite is nearly seven years old. In that time, there have been numerous instances of people lifting material from my site to use on other websites. Usually it's harmless. The increasing and irritating practice of bloggers hyperlinking to images on other people's sites and stealing bandwidth is frustrating but impossible to control. Occasionally I have had to take a stern stance, and place copyright notices on certain pages where image theft has been rife. Early on, fans of the group Chicago went crazy taking my personal images and sticking them all over the internet without crediting me. It was a battle, but I managed to put an end to that. Now I find that someone presenting himself as a professional media identity with a production company aiming to make a film documentary on 2SM has built a website using mostly my work. My images, my written content. Amazing. I won't give you the link as I don't wish to draw attention to this person's website. It is a shame that his good idea is being created by use of improper means. I have been spending some time lately on new additions to my 2SM page and have some really exciting new material to add, hopefully this week. But my excitement has been soured by the discovery of this other site full of stolen goods. Why, I wonder, are some people so uncool?

Facebookless am I. Speaking of uncool, and while I am having a moan about improper online activity, my Facebook page was hacked two weeks ago. Apparently this is a very common occurance, but nothing like this had ever happened to me before. The imposter took over my account, changed my password, email address and security question so that I could not get in, and then proceeded to contact my friends asking for  almost demanding, in fact  large sums of money. S/he wanted this money wired to Western Union, in my name. Fortunately none of my friends believed that it was me and I was deluged with reports of this abuse. It took Facebook four days to be convinced of the improper activity on my account and they finally took my account offline. Trouble is, despite being advised that my access could be restored to it if I emailed them back to confirm it was really me, they have done nothing about it. Facebook's support and privacy teams are a joke. They never reply with anything other than a robotic, automated message, and they take absolutely no interest in the human beings that have entrusted Facebook with their personal information. Because Facebook users do not pay a fee to belong to the site, it seems Facebook management don't take any view of responsibility or obligation to their users. I have waited two weeks for this issue to be resolved and I have gotten nowhere. If anybody out there has any clues as to how to get real people at Facebook to take an interest in the real people who use the site, please let me know!

26 January 2009

Well, I have had a very productive Australia Day long weekend! At last, after nearly seven years online, the Debsite has a new look. Okay, it's not a huge difference, but that was never what I wanted. I've just made some subtle changes in logo and layout, which hopefully will give the site a more contemporary look and make the pages sit better on your computer screen, whether yours is a 13-inch laptop or a 24-inch display. (It was when I got my new Apple 24-inch LED cinema display a couple of weeks ago that I realised the changes needed to come sooner rather than later!) I'm pretty sure I got to every page on the site but if you come across a page that's still got the old formatting, by all means let me know!

You will have noticed that the front page now includes a Hot Links feature, where I point to five of the hottest pages on the Debsite. These are based on the site statistics from my host server, showing me how many hits the most popular pages on the site are getting through each month. A lot of people go straight to those pages as a result of a search they've done, rather than looking for me! Hopefully this feature will alert loyal Debsite visitors to some of the cool parts of the site that they might not otherwise get to visit.

While I was going through the site doing the re-design, I did some much needed updates and there are still many more to come. Some key things worth checking out include:
• The 2SM Feedback page finally has been updated with three years' worth of emails from kind fans.
• The Australian Music Media page has been updated a tiny bit with redundant links gone and some fantastic video clips of Sounds, Flashez and Countdown included.
• The Debbie Does Breakfast page now includes audio clips from my BAY FM show.
• The Songwriters Speak section of the site now includes a Songwriters Speak Feedback page which has lots of lovely messages from songwriters and fans of the book.
And there is still a lot of new material to add to the site from activities over the past six months, so there's more to come!

24 January 2009

I don't know why I didn't find them earlier, but there are a couple of terrific clips on YouTube featuring 2SM. One is the 1979 TV ad for the 1SM campaign and the other is a Moove Flavoured Milk ad, also from 1979, featuring footage of Dragon playing at a Victoria Park concert that I was at. To check out these great clips, head over to the 2SM page and scroll on down.

Another exciting addition to the 2SM page is an audio clip of the classic 1976 recording of "Disco Chook" by Ian MacRae. You can get straight to that here.

The 2SM page has been sorely neglected in the last couple of years... When I launch the redesigned Debsite, expect some proper updates to this most treasured section of the site.

22 January 2009

Have you been getting online and listening to Debbie Does Breakfast each week? I present the show on Thursday mornings Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time. The Debbie Does Breakfast page lists times in other parts of the world so you can hear me live. This morning a lot of the music was inspired by and dedicated to the inauguration of President Barack Obama. I was in a celebratory and somewhat adulating mood and got some pictures of me in the studio, so head over to the Debbie Does Breakfast page to check them out. But remember, when you wake up at 4.30am to present a radio show that starts at 6am, there is no time for make-up.

20 January 2009

Summer is sweet in Byron Bay. None of that horrendous big wet we were having this time last year. Lovely hot days and warm nights, lots of opportunities to enjoy my new swimming pool. If anything, I could use a bit of rain (a few heavy downpours, actually) for my newly landscaped garden. But I don't want to jinx the perfect summer weather we are experiencing, so I won't say it out loud. I've had visitors at Club Deb and have been settling into my new office and still waiting for finishing touches to the house exterior, such as painting that's still to be completed.

I've also been getting into some new work, which I can tell you more about when I get around to doing some site updates. In actual fact, I have started working on a mini site re-design, significant enough so that you will hopefully be impressed by an improved layout, but still essentially the same Debsite. I hope the re-launch won't be too far away!

It's Inauguration Day!! Well, in the US it's still January 19, so it's Inauguration Day tomorrow. I'll be glued to the TV tomorrow my time to watch this amazing, monumental event in world history. President Barack Obama  what a concept! What a reality!

1 January 2009

Happy New Year to all Debsite visitors. I am very tired today, not because I partied last night (I didn't), but because like the trooper I am, I got out of bed at 4.30am this morning to go and do my breakfast show on BAY FM. I hope your new year's celebrations have been the perfect ones for you.

I truly am sorry for being such a tardy Debmaster... the promised updates to the site still have not materialised. I will get on to it, I will. It's just that when I have a few hours to spare, if the sun is shining, I'd prefer to float around in my new swimming pool... know what I mean? The transformation of Club Deb is nearly complete and I'll get some pictures up as soon as all building and painting is finished. I will also have the LA trip from last August uploaded, Henry Diltz's Sydney/Byron visit in November, and various other fun summer activities.... As soon as I can drag myself out of the pool!

18 December 2008

It's the time of the year when I compile my list of the ten best new CDs in my music collection for the year. This year, being back on air with Debbie Does Breakfast on BAY FM, I was able to play tracks from each album for my listeners. This morning in fact!. Check out my Top Ten Lists page for the new list.

7 December 2008

As I clean out my tiny overcrowded home office in preparation to move into a bigger office I've converted from my garage, I've come across two books I read during the year that I had not yet reviewed on the Debsite. So now I have. Belatedly I feasted on Pamela Des Barres' 1987 book I'm With The Band, and stoically I waded through a new release, Heart In The Studio. Check out my views on the Essential Reading page.

4 December 2008

So much has been going on that I haven't had a spare second to update you, oh loyal Debsite visitor, but I will do my best to get everything updated before Christmas... or at least before 2009! Henry Diltz's visit to Sydney was triumphant, with so much media coverage, so I'm working on getting that information up for you, and there are a lot of photos, which is what you get when you're hanging out with a photographer! Hey, I am still trying to sort through all my Los Angeles pics from August! Meanwhile, my weekly radio show on BAY FM is powering along, and I've started putting my weekly playlist online. Go to the Debbie Does Breakfast page and follow the link.

The great news is that summer has finally arrived in Byron Bay. After such a long dismal spring  which felt more like autumn... so much cold... so much rain  the temperatures have started soaring and the sun has been gracing us with its blistering presence. Fingers crossed it stays this way.

9 November 2008

Today marks one year since my mother passed away. A quiet day of reflection. Having grieved for her every minute of every day for the past year  and for many months before that while she was ill  today has not been so hard to get through. But it is a day of significance. As trite as this might sound, I urge all of you who still have parents to call them, see them, tell them how much you love them. There is nothing in my life as profound as the condition of being orphaned.

In this week of mixed emotions, it was a glorious thing indeed to be witness to the election of Barack Obama as the next US president. I have been continually hearing in my head the Todd Hunter/Johanna Pigott-written song, made famous by John Farnham, "Age of Reason". Read the lyrics here.

4 November 2008

Well now, here's some exciting news. As of this Thursday (Australian time) I am back on the radio, presenting my old program Debbie Does Breakfast on BAY FM here in Byron Bay! Woo hoo! After an eight-year break, I'm getting back into the BAY FM studio to present the radio show that's just right. (Is Just Right still a cereal that's available in supermarkets, or is my joke well past its expiry date?) Best news of all is that you can now listen to BAY FM live on the internet, so if you feel inclined, you can hear my program each week. Now there's a scary thought! Head on over to my BAY FM page and find out all about Debbie Does Breakfast, past and present, and there you will see the link for live streaming, as well as a guide to listening in different time zones around the world.

3 November 2008

You might be excused for thinking that I just decided not to get on that flight from LA; that I stayed there all this time and abandoned Australia and Byron Bay. Well, no, but don't think I didn't consider it! I arrived back in Sydney on September 3, drove back to Byron a couple days later, and since then have been crazy busy with work projects and renovations. Oh boy, I am NOT cut out for project managing renovations! I will spare you the details for now, other than to show you photos of beautiful vistas through cleared patches of land. Here are a few updates:

It was pretty social when I first got home, so I've added some photos to the Byron Bay Bliss Part 2 page where you can see me frocked up at a couple of parties, entertaining friends from Sydney, and enjoying hitherto unseen views on my property. Not necessarily in that order.

Kruger PRofiles has been coming back up to speed since mid-winter, when I worked on the Byron Bay Writers Festival, wrote some killer materials for Liberation's new Sherbet Anthology and now am working on an exhibition of Henry Diltz's rock photography opening in Sydney this month. Whoa! There will be more on that one in due course. For now, check out the latest on the Kruger PRofiles page.

There are literally thousands of photos from my trip to LA  and Palm Springs, and Minnesota  to sort through, and I am doing it slowly but surely. I hope to have my next addition to the Jetsetter page up as soon as possible.

Today is one year since I lost my beautiful angel dog, Morgan. A few thoughts on that are noted at the bottom of my Morgan the Angel Dog page.

31 August 2008

It's my last night in LA. Next time I write I will be back home in Byron Bay with lots of photos to share. Talk to you then.

24 August 2008

Back in LA from the wild midwest! I toured and ate my way through Minneapolis and St Paul, as well as the North Woods of Minnesota and Wisconsin. Quite a different point of view. One more week of fun in LA before I head back to Sydney and then Byron Bay.

20 August 2008

I've been too busy having too much fun here in LA to deliver more updates, sorry. I'm flying to St Paul, Minnesota today to visit my friend Janine and take a trip up to Lake Superior. I'm looking forward to exploring somewhere I haven't been before. I'll let you know how it goes.

14 August 2008

That's a birthday message for me, of course! Here I am celebrating in Los Angeles, where my birthday actually begins 17 hours after it does back home in Byron Bay and Sydney. So the early messages from friends back home have been lovely, and the celebrations here in LA have begun with elegant pre-birthday drinks at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and lots planned for the day and night of the 14th. You'll see it all when I post the photos from this trip on the Debsite.

In my 10 days here so far I've been out to the desert  Palm Springs, Yucca Valley, Joshua Tree  and down to the beach  Laguna and Zuma  and have started refamiliarising myself with some of my favourite shopping spots. I've been catching up with friends, making lots of plans to see more friends, dining out, and planning a bit of work to do while I'm here. But mainly just hanging, being. I love to just be in LA.

5 August 2008

Thank goodness I am away from the increasingly vile winter weather both Byron Bay and Sydney have been having lately. Yes, I am overseas again - this time back in my beloved Los Angeles. My first time back for more than four years, so lots of catching up with friends and getting around to favourite spots on the agenda. Weather here is gloriously warm, so now I just have to get rid of the bad cold I picked up last week in Sydney, staying in the hideous Vibe Hotel in Rushcutters Bay, suffering their abysmal heating system. I'm off to Palm Springs this weekend for some serious heat.

While I am here I'll aim to do some updates on what I was up to during my elongated silence. I suddenly took on a lot of work so can report on that, as well as other bits. Check back in soon.

22 June 2008

I'm still pining for Hawaii, so thought I'd sort through my 2005 holiday snaps and add a page to the Jetsetter section. You can head straight to my Hawaii 2005 page to see why I went back this year for longer.

12 June 2008

Two more books have been added to the Essential Reading page. High Voltage Rock 'n' Roll by Christie Eliezer, on some big behind-the-scenes boys of the Australian music business, and Led Zeppelin Crashed Here, a detailed listing of rock 'n' roll landmarks across the US. I wonder if the day will ever come when my pile of music books to read comes to an end. I hope not.

11 June 2008

The Hawaii 2008 page is up! Go check it out. Lots and lots (and lots) of photos of me and my friends on Oahu and Maui, on beautiful beaches, in fabulous restaurants, even seeing my favourite band, Chicago! If you're a Chicago fan you can head straight to that page here.

I've also posted a few new photos taken in Byron recently. With all my traveling and renovating, there hadn't been much photo-worthy news to share, but friends and art get a mention on the updates to my Byron Bay Bliss Part 2 page.

8 June 2008

While I still slowly work away at putting my Hawaii pages together for the Debsite (there are a LOT of photos), I popped down to Sydney for a very quick visit  too quick to even bother changing the Weatherzone button on my front page. The purpose? To share an experience  an event  with my friend Tracy that we had promised to do together no matter what. We HAD to see the Sex And The City movie as soon as it opened. No matter that it opened in Byron Bay on the same day (amazing given that the Byron Cinema has a woeful track record of neglecting worthwhile new releases), and no matter that the weather in Sydney was atrocious. Down I went. One blurry snap of us getting Carried Away here. And yes, we loved it.

22 May 2008

It's a sad affliction and I have been suffering it for 12 days now. It's PHBS and it's put me in slow motion. You don't know what PHBS is? That's Post-Hawaii Blues Syndrome. I've got it bad. Byron Bay is in that late autumn/early winter stage that many look forward to and which I dread. I long for the glistening pale aqua water and white sand of Lanikai and Waikiki, the brilliant sunshine, the balmy breezes... sigh. I want to go back. But I can't for now, so I am busy putting together a huge page all about my lovely Hawaiian holiday and should have that ready for you as soon as you can say "I'll have a pina colada and some coconut shrimp, please."

I did a lot of reading on the many beaches of Oahu and Maui. Apart from devouring two essential guide books, which I'll mention on my Hawaii page, and reading the inspiring Michael J Fox memoir, Lucky Man, I read two vastly different music books: Girls Like Us, which maps the lives, relationships and songs of Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon, and Could It Be Forever? David Cassidy  My Story, the perfect easy read for a beach holiday. You can check out my reviews on the Essential Reading page.

8 May 2008

Aloha once more. My time in Hawaii is almost over; tomorrow morning I fly out of Honolulu, bound for Sydney, where I will spend a couple of days before finally going home to Byron Bay on Monday. It's been a busy feast of beach-going, eating and shopping, as well as hanging out with friends, seeing Chicago, and much more. So once I am home I'll sort through the photos and put up a page on my blissful Hawaiian getaway. Mahalo!

23 April 2008

Aloha from Maui!! Never been here before, very excited. I'm staying in a condo across from the beach in Kihei. So much to do in the next 10 days  so many beaches to lie on, swim and snorkel in. So many shops to shop in, restaurants and cafes to eat in. And this Friday night my other favourite band is playing here on Maui  Chicago! Yes, really! Some of my friends think I planned this trip especially, just as I went to London for the Eagles last month, but no, in this instance it is purely a coincidence. I had already booked the trip, and then found out Chicago would be playing here while I was on the island. Very happy. Also happy that my great pal Henry Diltz from LA is going to be flying in and hanging with me here in Maui for the weekend. So there will be lots to report, lots of photos to share. Gotta go take a sunset swim now...

22 April 2008

More site updates as promised. Some nice photos from Sydney, a couple of weekends ago. I was down there en route to Hawaii, primarily for the consecration of my darling mother's headstone. Five months already since her passing. It was a good occasion, with lots of her dear friends in attendance. Around that event were some get-togethers with some of my dear friends and there are some nice photos to share on the Sydney These Days page.

Things are just wonderful at beautiful Lanikai, an exquisite beachside area in Kailua on Oahu's windward side. The wind is a bit full-on, but if you have to be sandblown, it might as well be with the finest, whitest tropical sand anywhere. I've been taking lots of photos of the magnificent beach scenes, and will share them on the Debsite in due course. Meanwhile, one more day working on the tan here, and then on Wednesday I'm flying over to Maui, and have some amazing things planned for my time there. Watch this space.

19 April 2008

Aloha! I am in Hawaii, have been here since Monday, working on my tan, lying on the most exquisite beaches on Oahu's north shore, and staying up late each night in my Sunset Beach cottage to get the Debsite updates on last month's London trip done for you, as promised. To check out the story and photos of my whirlwind London trip, click here. To head straight for my coverage of the Eagles concerts, go here.

I have a few nice photos from last weekend in Sydney to share with you, lovely gatherings with friends. That's what I'll do when I move down to the windward side of the island to stay at Lanikai Beach, in Kailua, for the next few days. Check back again soon.

9 April 2008

Lest you think I have been lazing around and neglecting my responsibilities, let me assure you that I have been very busy working on the photos from London to get them up on the Debsite for you. But it is slow work and I have been fighting lingering jetlag and dealing with other stuff as one does... And now I am on the move again: tomorrow I head down to Sydney for a few days, and then on Monday I am flying to paradise. During last year's ordeal I promised myself some healing time in Hawaii once it was all over. And now, having suffered Byron Bay's worst summer ever (it is still raining, as I type!), and the freezing cold of London, I am headed to a place that's warm and fine. It had better be! The old iBook will be with me, so those London photos will still be uploaded and I will keep you posted on my beach-going activites as I work my way around Oahu and Maui. Keep a watch on the weather button on my front page so you'll know where I am. Aloha!

3 April 2008

There have been some heart-wrenching farewells on TV shows, copious tears shed over losing favourite characters, usually tragic deaths that resonate for years. Molly Jones on A Country Practice... Bobby Ewing on Dallas (before it turned out to be Pam's bad dream)... Marc Green on ER... And tonight on Home & Away, Sally Fletcher's poignant farewell, thankfully not a death (despite her previous kidnapping and two stabbings) but a journey into a vague and promising future. I have been an unashamed Home & Away viewer for 20 years. I love it. It's not a guilty pleasure, it is just a pleasure. I record it when I go away (thanks to Mystar I watched 11 episodes in one sitting through my jetlag haze on Tuesday night). I believe it is consistently one of the best Australian TV dramas ever. And for 20 years I have loved Kate Ritchie's portrayal of Sally along with millions of other viewers in Australia and around the world. I think she's awesome. Congratulations, Kate. I'll miss you madly.

I'm sorting through hundreds of photos from the London trip, including many many Eagles pics. Should have new section up on the Debsite in the next few days.

While on the other side of the world, the Eagles kick off their new Long Road Out Of Eden Tour in London with a series of shows starting this Thursday night. Hmmm, what to do? Stay at home and deal with the crowds and traffic and noise and likely wet weather in order to see some of the best talent to ever visit Byron, right on my doorstep? Or sit on planes for 24 hours and go to a cold, damp climate and spend a fortune to see one of my all-time favourite bands and hear the songs off the new Eagles album live for the first time?

So I'm off to London! Today! Got the woollies all packed up (they are forecasting snow showers on Sunday - snow!), a diary chockablock full of lunches and teas and dinners and shopping and theatre, spending time with beloved cousins and friends. And tickets to three Eagles concerts!!! I'll let you know all about it when I return.

11 March 2008

I've put up some photos from my friend Neil's 50th birthday party in Sydney last month. Head over to These Days to see them.

The ensuite renovation is just about done and it's fab. I had my too-small walk-through wardrobe re-fitted at the same time. It's much, much better. Still not enough room for all my clothes  when could there ever be? But it's working very nicely. Think Carrie in Sex & The City, picture her on her ladder picking out the perfect pair of shoes from the plethora of shoe boxes in the top section, above the hanging clothes. Divide what she had by at least one-eighth, and that's me. Speaking of Sex & The City, have you seen the trailer for the movie that comes out on May 30? Fabulous!!

And if you're one of the few out there who hasn't yet seen those killer Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel videos with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck respectively, head over to YouTube immediately and watch this and this. The best laughs I've had in a long time.

18 February 2008

Not a lot of updates to the Debsite but various bits of news to share...

It appears summer, even in paradisical Byron Bay, has been cancelled this year. Never have I experienced so dismal a summer in Australia. Let's not even talk about Sydney, where I had to spend five days earlier this month, and where the weather was nothing short of wintery! (Went to a wonderful 50th birthday party down there; hoping to add photos to the Debsite when I receive them.) Beautiful Byron is so very green and lush (and soggy, so soggy) but at the expense of my suntan. Not impressed!! So what have I been doing to pass the time? Renovating! My ensuite is having an overhall, and bigger plans are afoot to transform my country abode into Club Deb. And there is travel on the near horizon! More on that down the track.

Meanwhile, you might have noticed a new widget on the front page. It's Debchat. I'll try this for a while and see how it goes. If I'm online and you're visiting the Debsite and would like to say hello, just type something into the Debchat box, courtesy of Meebo, and we can chat. Please be nice.

Did you know that even dogs have their own version of Myspace? It's called Dogster, and it's woofin' wonderful. Now even though my beloved Morgan has passed on from this earth, she is still with us in spirit, so I've given her a Dogster page. Just scroll to the bottom of the Morgan the Angel Dog page and click through from the Dogster badge. I found out about Dogster from my Texan pals, Lisa and Melissa, whose gorgeous pups, Ike and Amos, have their own pages. If you want your dog to be more social, maybe you should check out Dogster, too.

Bad weather is good for film-going. It's Oscar time so I'm doing my best to see all the nominated films. My favourite so far is Atonement, followed closely by Into The Wild, which has criminally been overlooked for a Best Director nomination for Sean Penn or a Best Actor nomination for Emile Hirsch. I can't pick any of the winners at this stage. Yes, Daniel Day-Lewis is brilliant in There Will Be Blood, but it was ever so Citizen Kane-ish, I thought. Anyway, very much looking forward to the ceremony in a week's time. The corn is poppin' already.

Speaking of awards ceremonies, I was very glad that Amy Winehouse did so well at the Grammys last week. I just hope it helps bring her back to a sense of her own brilliance and an awareness that she is very close to sacrificing it all to senselessness. And speaking of music, I have the new albums by Sheryl Crow, Shelby Lynne and kd lang in my car CD player. Sheryl's is terrific, brave, delightfully musical. Shelby's is a sweetly seductive re-telling of some of Dusty Springfield's songs. kd's is turgidly disappointing, but I will give it another try or two.

Oh, before I forget, because I am trying to forget, my ABC Coast FM segment is no more, so don't bother trying to listen on a Tuesday any more. Programming and scheduling changes meant there was no more room for me. Alas. I have a couple of recordings of my segments which I will endeavour to get on the site some time, so you can hear how fun it was, while it was.

11 January 2008

Happy New Year from soggy Byron Bay. Since Christmas it has rained almost continuously, although earlier this week we had about four or five days of beach-going conditions, but you had to pick your time accurately between showers and storms. I have taken my time to get the Debsite updates done because I am currently opposed to the practice of multi-tasking, and if I'm only doing one thing at a time, it's slow going. But it's been worth the wait.

I've had a lot of visitors through the homestead since returning home four weeks ago, but none so special and wonderful as my cousin Cyndy from London. She flew out to Sydney on December 7 and helped me through the last difficult week in Sydney, before driving to Byron with me and helping me ease back into life at home alone. She had never been to Australia before so her coming was a grand event! I've chronicled The Adventures of Deb & Cyn in three sections: These Days, Beach Baby and Byron Bay Bliss Part 2. Head over to each section and you'll get all the details.

Since Cyndy's departure just before Christmas, I've kept as busy as I've wanted to, joining in the odd social occasion with local friends, learning how to use my (kind of) new coffee machine, and having various Sydney friends pop in on their way up or down the coast, meeting the horse, taking my avocados. You can check out all that activity here.

Two weeks before I came home permanently, I had to fly up to Byron from Sydney to meet the removal truck that brought up all the boxes and furniture I was taking from my mother's home. I wanted to get most of it unpacked before I came back with Cyndy. While I was back home that weekend, there was a party to celebrate 30 years of Sunspirit Aromatherapy. I did PR for Sunspirit for a little while some years ago. Even though the company has been sold, many long-term staff still work for Sunspirit, and the original owners, Dave and Melanie Dane, decided to throw a big party. I went along. Check a cool pic from that here.

There was another very special reunion a couple of weeks before that, in Sydney, for students who went to Masada College in the school's first ten years of existence. That was 1967-1977. Although Mum had only passed away a week before the reunion, I felt a strong desire to go along. It was lovely. Details and photos are here.

I saw two wonderful concerts in November and December. Elton John played at Sydney's Acer Arena, his three-hour solo show featuring lots of early songs, extended versions and amusing banter. Apart from the godawful traffic getting to that venue, and my sheer exhaustion from all that was going on in my life, it was wonderful. Then in December, Crosby Stills & Nash were here. I had a front row seat at Brisbane's Riverside Stage, and I took Cyndy along and got her a seat in the 10th row. The guys were great, and they brought such a good band, including David Crosby's son James Raymond (from CPR). I was so enthusiastic all the way through the gig, a roadie gave me the setlist at the end of the show. I have no idea what to do with it.

Until the last few weeks of Mum's life when I was based in her hospital room, I did spend some of my time in Sydney catching up with old friends. Vanessa from Melbourne came up to say goodbye before she left Australia for a new life in France, and I spent a lovely day with Terri and her daughter Taylor. Some lovely photos to be seen in These Days hereand in Beach Baby here.

Due to all the upheavals in my life, and the fact that I was about to drive back home to Byron Bay the next day, I had to miss the annual school friends' Christmas drinks and dinner that always takes place at Phillip's Foote in The Rocks. Peter decided to change to venue this year and two of the others who attended have informed me that the new pub (The Australian Hotel) was not a good choice, so if Phillip's Foote or somewhere better is booked for this year, I'll resume my attendance and fly down to Sydney especially.

I've done plenty of reading in recent months so I've updated the Essential Reading page. Don Felder (ex-Eagles) has a book out called Heaven And Hell: My Life in the Eagles that I really enjoyed. A book that's been out for some 12 years which I only just discovered is Giles Smith's Lost In Music, a witty memoir from a British music writer and wannabe pop star. Then there's another huge tome of interviews with songwriters called Song  the world's best songwriters on creating the music that moves us, which took me all year to wade through (well, I left it behind in Byron while I was looking after Mum in Sydney, so I only read it on respite breaks back home). And I just added a songwriting craft book that I'd read years ago but had never gotten around to reviewing, John Braheny's The Craft And Business Of Songwriting. My library of music books never stops growing!

Just in case you're interested in what I read when I'm not reading music books... In the past year it included (in no particular order): Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns, Isabelle Allende's Inés of My Soul, Gerald Stone's Who Killed Channel 9?, Carmel Bird's Writing The Story Of Your Life, John Grogan's Marley & Me, and my friend Suzanna Clarke's gorgeous book A House In Fez. I'm also midway through Thomas Keneally's Searching For Schindler.

On my To Do list for 2008: Take trips Hawaii, Los Angeles, London and maybe Italy, France and Romania... renovate my house, inside and out... Get fit and lose some weight... Do less PR and more writing... Start work on a new book... get Henry Diltz to take a new photo for the front page of the Debsite.

31 December 2007

Life goes on, of course. But it's been hard, and especially hard to do regular stuff like update the Debsite, even though I do have much news to share about what I've been up to lately. I had hoped to get a ton of News items up by today so that I could well and truly put 2007 behind me, but it will have to spill into the new year. Check back later this week and there will be a lot of news, new pictures and anecdotes. I am home in Byron Bay  permanently, at last  and am slowly coming to terms with life without both parents and without my great love, Morgan. And I am fine.

Meanwhile, what I can tell you is that music is a mainstay that gets me through the hardest times, and so the new releases I fell in love with this year had a huge part to play. There were such monumental new albums to savour, not the least of which was the Eagles release. Head over to my Top Ten Lists page to see what else I was listening to this year.

By the way, my ABC Coast FM segment has been on recess for the past few weeks, and I won't be back on air until some time in January. I'll let you know when that will be.

12 November 2007

And now this.

Since early this year I have been back in Sydney more than I have been at home in Byron Bay, and have alluded to a family illness as the reason. Now I can reveal that it was my mother, who was diagnosed with a crippling terminal illness in March of this year, and I have been with her for the past eight months as her carer. Now with a heavy heart I report that she passed away last Friday 9 November. She was only 67.

As always in a time of need, my friends have been amazing over the last few days, rallying around me here in Sydney, and calling and sending incredibly touching messages from home in Byron, around Australia, in England and in the US. My cousins in London have all been calling and reminding me of the ties that bind, even with half a world between us. And my mother's circle of devoted friends in Sydney have been right by my side through these days. The funeral was today. There is still much to do here in Sydney before I can finally return home to Byron to enjoy the summer there. But I will be going home without my precious Morgan, and without the security of having a home base in Sydney with my Mum there waiting for me. It is a new era.

3 November 2007

Oh what a sad, sad day. Never did I imagine when I went to sleep last night that I would awake to such a terrible morning.

I've got it. The new Eagles album, Long Road Out Of Eden. And it's beautiful. Beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful beautiful...

28 October 2007

Just finished yet another book... it's a big year for reading. American Troubadours chronicles the careers of some of the groundbreaking and influential singer-songwriters of the 1960s, including Tim Buckley, Fred Neil, Phil Ochs and Tim Hardin. I've rated it on the Essential Reading page, in the Songwriting section of course.

It's also a big year for album releases. While over the past week I've been ingesting Raising Sand, the remarkable new album from Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, I've been chomping at the bit in anticipation of the Eagles release tomorrow. I'll be picking up my copy of Long Road Out Of Eden first thing in the morning, and then playing a couple of tracks from it on Tuesday morning on my weekly segment on ABC Coast FM.

15 October 2007

I've been back home in Byron Bay for a few days and the weather has been perfect, so I've had some time on the beach to finish another music book. This one was Pattie Boyd's autobiography, Wonderful Today. You can check out my review on the Essential Reading page.

Last Wednesday I recorded an interview for Aussie tv current affairs program Today Tonight, about songwriters. It aired last Thursday night but by then I was at home in Byron and we don't get TT up here, so I haven't seen it. When I get back to Sydney I should be able to get hold of a copy and then I will figure out a way to put it up on the site for all to see.

Before flying back to Sydney tomorrow I'll be on the Gold Coast to do my segment on ABC Coast FM. I'll be featuring a track from Ann Wilson's sensational new album Hope & Glory, so you should have a listen. Just head over to the ABC Coast FM page and follow the links.

Speaking of new albums, it's less than two weeks now until the new Eagles double album, Long Road Out Of Eden, hits the Australian stores. Very excited. Wish I could be in LA this week for their series of concerts at the new Nokia Theater, but never has such a dream been so out of reach as right now in my life!

And while I think of it, and on an Eagles-related subject, here's an interesting fact about the Debsite. The most popular page on the site, the page that gets the most direct hits, is my JD Souther interview. Go figure. He has zillions of fans out there. And 10 years after that interview, when he said he was working on a new album, he actually has the album finished and before he releases it he's doing a slew of interviews  remarkable for the man who wanted to be "elusive and hard to find"  and has just done a little tour of the UK. Hmmm. He's got a website in development and a Myspace site with some new songs to hear, so I've put the links to those pages at the bottom of my JD Souther interview and now all those zillions of fans have somewhere to go to get some info, instead of emailing me, as they have done for years, asking questions about JD's plans that I generally don't know the answers to!

Warm spring sunshine in Byron (albeit with a terrifying electrical storm last night), so I spent several hours on the beach this weekend, most of it reading the fabulous and outrageous account of Warren Zevon's life in I'll Sleep When I'm Dead. Just added it to the Essential Reading page. Highly recommended.

Other than that, no updates to the Debsite as I have been too tired during this short break at home. I have to head back to Sydney on Tuesday, but not before I do my weekly radio segment in the ABC's Gold Coast studio, where I'll be talking about the great Steely Dan, who I'm seeing in concert that night  back in Sydney. You can listen live (to me on radio, not the Steely Dan concert); just head to the ABC Coast FM page and follow the links.

12 September 2007

Back home in Byron for a short break from all things Sydney. Planning to spend as much of it on the beach as possible. Will attempt to get some Debsite updates done. Or maybe I'll just sleep...

26 August 2007

Another year, another Countdown Spectacular!! On Friday night I went along to Countdown Spectacular 2, to sing along to some daggy old hits and fulfill a long-held desire to meet Australian rock legend Rick Springfield. And there he was in all his glory, and there I was, hanging out. I've had a smile on my face all weekend. All the details are here.

I'll be sharing my CS2 experience with listeners on my segment on ABC Coast FM this Tuesday, as well as playing the brand new Eagles single, so be sure to tune in. Check the link for details of when and how you can listen.

18 August 2007

Back in Sydney after a lo-o-o-o-ong drive down today. Weather much cooler here (as evidenced by the weather button on my front page) and the demands on me are greater, but I shall endeavour to continue updating the Debsite and feeding you news as I think it will interest you. And you can continue hearing me as usual on ABC Coast FM as I will be doing my segment live from the Sydney studio each Tuesday just after 11am. I believe our next segment will feature music from the upcoming Countdown Spectacular 2 shows.

16 August 2007

Another birthday celebration over dinner last night was photographed, so of course I want to share those photos with you, too. Click here.

15 August 2007

My birthday yesterday was lovely, thank you! My house is full of fragrant flowers and the wishes via email, SMS and good old fashioned phone calls and birthday cards were much appreciated.

I started the day with a trip up to ABC Coast FM to do the segment with no name. I played fellow-August 14 birthday person, David Crosby, from the CPR album Just Like Gravity. A beautiful song called "Breathless". Trevor Jackson was very impressed. Then I played Madonna's "Frozen" from the Ray of Light album, because it's her birthday this week, too. And then we paid tribute to Elvis Presley, who of course died 30 years ago this week. I chose Elvis's last chart hit before he died, the rollicking "Way Down". Way cool. There are now a couple of photos of me and Trev in the studio on my ABC Coast FM page so check them out.

I then headed straight back down the highway to Byron Bay for my birthday lunch and there are a couple of photos to show for it here.

14 August 2007

It's my birthday and I'll announce it to the world if I want to!

Plans for the day include my regular spot on ABC Coast FM, where I'll be featuring tracks by some musical Leos (you can listen in just after 11am AET  click here for the link), followed by lunch in Byron Bay with my friend Karena, a fellow Leo, and then who knows...? Maybe I'll spend the rest of the day reading all your good wishes. Send 'em in!!

I had a wonderful birthday gift yesterday, a day early, when a beautiful furry fellow made his presence known in my front garden, climbing and taking residence in one of my tall gum trees. Can you guess what it was? I'll give you a hint: he's not a bear. Click here for more.

11 August 2007

Every year at some stage in August we have a glimpse of summer for a day or three on the east coast of NSW. After months of cold grim winter, it's something I look forward to with confidence, knowing that there will be a brief preview of a glorious hot season ahead. Five years ago to this day, on the day of my 40th birthday party in Sydney, we had such a day. And today in Byron Bay, I donned my bikini and lay on my towel at The Pass for a few hours. Were it not for my pasty white skin and generous winter curves, I could have sworn it was a summer's day. Ahhh...

8 August 2007

If you missed my radio spot on ABC Coast FM yesterday at 11am (AET) then you missed some great tracks by Robert Lamm, Heart and Neil Diamond. Next week will be a musical Leo tribute in honour of my birthday, so make a note to tune in. Details are here.

6 August 2007

My four-month absence from the Debsite has been unprecedented, and I am most sorry for it. Life has a way of getting in the way of best-laid plans, and John Lennon's sage words notwithstanding, sometimes the way life happens is just lousy, and those other plans you were making would be a much, much better way to go. Sadly, a major family illness has diverted me and meant that for most of the time since Easter, I have been based back in Sydney. Which has been crappy for several reasons, not the least of which being that Sydney has been going through its worst winter in over 50 years. Truly. The wettest June, the coldest July. Vile. But I am having some time at home in Byron, to rest and re-energise, and it's giving me a chance to do some long-overdue updates to the site. It's a long list, but a good one.

Starting on a light note, have you seen The Simpsons Movie yet? If you need a good belly laugh, this is the one to see. Since Oscar season I haven't seen many movies, just three in fact. Oceans 13, so that I could drool over my husband, George, and our best man, Brad... Knocked Up because it had great reviews and it was smart comedy... and The Simpsons, because, well, you just have to. Then you have to head over to the Simpsonize Me website so you can create a Simpsons version of yourself! That's me and Morgan on the right, as you no doubt guessed. I got wind of this from L&M's Eagles Fastlane site, where Lisa and Melissa cleverly Simpsonized Henley, Frey, Walsh and Schmit. Thanks, gals.

Morgan turned 16 in May. Yes, 16!! And despite having to live through a hideous winter in Sydney with me, she hangs on resiliently. Oh god, I love my dog. Latest photos of my ageing, sleepy pooch are on Morgan's page.

You might have noticed the Weatherzone button on my front page. For more than five years online, the Debsite has avoided any peripherals on my front page. But I am a die hard weather obsessive, and as Neil and Tim Finn wrote, everywhere you go, you always take the weather with you. You'll know whether I am in Byron Bay or Sydney by my weather button. Which is a lot more interesting than my belly button, especially as I am belly button-phobic. But let's not go there.

Last month I went to the Sydney Opera House to enjoy Burt Bacharach and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It was a lovely concert and Burt is just adorable. My only complaint is that he has too many hits and so rather than choosing his favourites to perform in their entirety, he attempted to give nearly every one an airing, by presenting medleys. Which meant only 90 seconds or thereabouts of "Walk On By". The guest singers were fine, but wouldn't it be wonderful to see Burt and Dionne Warwick together again?

I've been reading up a storm. New music books on the Essential Reading page include Always Magic In The Air, a great account of the major songwriters during the era of the Brill Building in the 1960s; an updated version of the indispensable The Book  Top 40 Research; and a tedious Meanjin anthology of Australian writing on rock music, All Yesterday's Parties. And I still have a pile of other music books waiting to be read, but I've also been devouring non-music books, including the heartbreaking new book from Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Gerald Stone's ripping yarn, Who Killed Channel 9? No, I am not reading the new Harry Potter, I haven't read any of the preceding Harry Potters, and I don't care who dies at the end.

Speaking of books, here's some sad news about my own book, Songwriters Speak, as I celebrate two years since its release. Thanks to a feckless act by the distributors, who took it upon themselves to destroy several hundred copies for no good reason, my book is now out of print. And unfortunately there is no re-issue on the horizon, but I hope another publisher will see the merit in having Songwriters Speak available in book stores in perpetuity. Meanwhile, I still have copies available to purchase through my website, so if you have been thinking about getting one for the last two years, stop thinking, and grab it while you can. Click here.

In April/May I did some PR work for a remarkable singer-songwriter, Sara Tindley, who launched her beautiful album, Lucky The Sun, in Sydney. We got some terrific coverage and she's been well reviewed, so it was a job well done. Details on Sara can be found on the Kruger PRofiles page. Unfortunately all PR work is on hold at present, but I hope to work with Sara again before long. She's wonderful.

Speaking of wonderful music, I have been listening to a lot of new stuff lately, and a lot of new old stuff. Judee Sill's two albums, re-issued on Rhino a few years back, are haunting and powerful. JD Souther told me about them and about her when I interviewed him 10 years ago (my JD Souther interview is one of the most popular destinations on the Debsite, interestingly), and although I owned the albums  Judee Sill and Heartfood  on crackly old vinyl, they have come to life much better on remastered CD. I have also been enjoying Paula Cole's new album, Courage; Joan Osborne's covers of Hall & Oates' "Sara Smile" and The Manhattans' "Kiss & Say Goodbye" on her latest album, Breakfast in Bed; and Crowded House's Time on Earth. But my favourite so far for 2007 is Silverchair's Young Modern, a tour de force.

BIG NEWS!! That music I just mentioned and more has been featured on my new radio segment recently. What new radio segment? I hear you ask. Well, I should have let you know about this many months ago, as it's been going for six months already, but I was waiting for it to settle in and become permanent, and then life got weird, as mentioned right at the top of this long news bulletin. Through all the turmoil, I have managed to keep doing my on air duties. So what's it all about? It's a half-hour segment (with no name) each Tuesday morning, just after 11am, on ABC Coast FM. How can you hear me? Click here for all the details.

And on the subject of radio, my poor neglected 2SM page continues too get wonderful feedback from old 2SM junkies and DJs alike, but to my horror I have just worked out that it's been 18 months since I last updated the 2SM Feedback page. So that is a priority over the next couple of weeks while I have some time to myself here in Byron Bay. What I have done is finally add a couple of lines of info on the obscure old band Punkz, that Glenn A Baker sent me last year. Sorry for the delay, Glenn. The 2SM page is always worth checking out, even if it hasn't been updated, because it is such a treasure trove of info.

Back in those halcyon '70s... sigh... my primary school, Masada College, put on some great end-of-year musical theatre productions. I uncovered a great photo of me and some of my co-stars in the 1972 production of Oliver! Check it out on the Younger Years page.

I meant to post some photos from the Blues Festival back in April, but only finally did that now. Click here to see me backstage with Jack Johnson.

6 April 2007

Easter in Byron Bay means it's time for Bluesfest (East Coast Blues & Roots Festival). I haven't been to one for nine years, amazingly, but I am definitely there this year... in between the rain storms that are so typical for Byron at Easter time. I hope wherever you are that you are enjoying a peaceful and happy Easter, or Passover, or both.

7 March 2007

Last week when Billy Thorpe died suddenly, I was asked by The Music Network  Australia's music industry trade magazine - to write and compile a special feature on the rock music legend. Apart from my words, there are dozens of tributes from Billy's friends and industry colleagues, and it's a wonderful insight into the man behind the legend. It was published on Monday and is now on the Debsite, so you can see it here.

5 March 2007

I've just added another book to the Essential Reading page. Laurel Canyon: The inside story of rock and roll's legendary neighborhood by Michael Walker is a really great read. Amazing how the whole ethos of Laurel Canyon in the '60s and '70s is enjoying its most in-depth study yet, through this latest book by Walker, the recent book by Barney Hoskyns, Hotel California, and a BBC documentary based on Barney's book, that contained wonderful interviews with so many of the key players from that era and locale. It's a long way from Byron Bay, but Laurel Canyon is always in my psyche.

I'm working with a new music client, a very talented country singer named Paul Costa. Details on the Kruger PRofiles page.

28 February 2007

Awoke to the news this morning of the passing of Billy Thorpe, one of Australia's most iconic and beloved rockers. A huge period of mourning in the music industry commences. I got to know Thorpie when I was writing my book, Songwriters Speak. He kept me in his studio for five hours as he told me many stories about his career. A colourful character, indeed. My thoughts go to his family and to his many friends, some of whom are my friends and who will be suffering.

The past month has been a busy one with another trip back to Sydney, during which I saw the wonderful, wonderful Billy Crystal perform his one-man show, 700 Sundays, a truly glorious experience in the theatre. I was supposed to see Burt Bacharach perform, too, but Burt postponed his Australian tour due to an injury. Also postponing their Australian tour are Crosby Stills & Nash, who I was due to see in Brisbane tonight. Croz is ill, to the degree where he has also cancelled a US tour he was doing with Graham Nash immediately after the Australian visit. All of which points back to Billy Thorpe's untimely demise, and the fact that life is all too short, especially for old rockers.

1 February 2007

While kitchen renovations go on in the background and the weather here in Byron has been so hot we're all melting, I'm ironing out some glitches around the Debsite, particularly updated dead links and the like. Thanks to a nice DJ fella named Tony James from the UK, I've gone and made some updates to my Overseas Music Media page, and added a link to Tony's groovy site. More to come...

29 January 2007

I've updated the Byron Bay Bliss section to reflect my move back to my home there, so go check it out to find out what's happening in my blissful patch.

Last week I was in Tamworth for the Country Music Festival, my first time there for three years. The immensely talented singer-songwriter I'm working with, Lou Bradley, launched her album there and for the rest of the week was the buzz of the industry there. I also met with some other fabulous artists that I hope to be working with in the coming months. Stay tuned for details.

1 January 2007

Happy New Year to all Debsite visitors with best wishes for a healthy, happy and prosperous 2007. It's gloriously hot and sunny in Byron Bay, but I've had a quiet day indoors recovering from a big New Year's Eve. So much food... so much champagne!

Check in again soon for more updates. It's a busy time in the World of Deb.

31 December 2006

I set a goal to get the Debsite updates done by today, and here they are. Still a few things to sort out on the site, which needs a major overhaul in one particular section (and of course, another year has gone by without any progress in Jetsetter...) but most of the news that's news is ready to report. At last. Sit tight, there's lots to read. So, chronologically going backwards...

The end of the year means I have a good listen to all the new music I've gathered and list the ten favourites on my Top Ten Lists page. Go check it out. This wasn't an easy year for that, as nothing bowled me over and changed my life. But there was some good stuff. Most notable is that an Australian CD comes in at number one for the first time  Augie March's Moo, You Bloody Choir (which surely gets best title of the year as well)  and that in fact there are four Aussie albums on the list. This is a rare thing, but there was indeed some good music being made here in 2006. There were also some real stinkers, and it pains me to say that the biggest disappointment of the year was Chicago XXX. I won't even go into it here. Bring on Robert Lamm's next solo album.

The Essential Reading page is going to have a few new listings this summer, as I work my way through a pile of promising music books. I raced through David Crosby's new autobiography, Since Then  How I Survived Everything and Lived to Tell About It, which has now been rated in the Biographies & Memoirs section of the page. Apart from its clumsy sub-title, it's a fantastic effort.

My PR work has been busy and two new projects are detailed on the Kruger PRofiles page, which is undergoing a few changes at the moment. Be patient if one or two links aren't working yet. There's construction going on behind the scenes.

On the Canine Friends page are some new darlings. In Sydney, Buster, Miss-E and Remy have been added recently, along with Bender from the Blue Mountains, Neiman from Los Angeles, and Doc and Jakey from Nashville. They're all waiting for you to say hello.

The two weeks before Christmas were spent madly rushing around in Sydney going to lunches, drinks, dinners and parties. The annual school friends gathering in The Rocks was very small and low-key this year, without any major surprises, but it is always lovely to barbecue a steak and share a drink with my mates at Phillip's Foote. A few photos are here.

Big news now! In October I fulfilled a long-held dream to move back to my house near Byron Bay. In the six years I was based back in Sydney, I woke every day wishing that I was waking in my bedroom at Tyagarah. So finally I made the move back. It was a HUGE move, and it is still a work in progress. My PR business keeps me busy in Sydney as well, so there will be plenty of trips back and forth, but now I spend most nights drifting off to sleep to the sound of crickets and frogs and the deep dark calm, and I wake up to the sound of cows, horses, birds and fresh country air. It is bliss. If you have never explored the Byron side of my life, you should check out the Byron Bay Bliss section of the site. But so far all the material contained within pertains to my life in Byron during the '90s and a few visits back while based in Sydney. This section of the Debsite will need an overhaul and some new additions are already awaiting. This will be a priority in the new year.

Just before I left Sydney, in the first week of October, my friend Ray Gillon from the UK came down for an intensive working trip. He's a film producer specialising in foreign language versions of major blockbusters, and he was in Sydney to work on George Miller's Happy Feet. We met ever-so-briefly, but of course there were photos to be taken, as we see each other so rarely. Pics here.

My last event with the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority was the Darling Harbour Fiesta, a Latin festival with good music and spicy food. I finished up my contract at the Authority just a few days after that, and said goodbye to my wonderful colleagues with a lovely lunch. Great people. Photos here.

In September my sister Paula and I were lucky enough to be seated in the third row of the final Sydney performance of The Boy From Oz, starring Hugh Jackman. Utterly sensational!

Morgan, my beloved dog, is fifteen years and seven months old. That's old. She's doing okay  she loves being back in Byron Bay  but in September in Sydney she had a major health scare and some surgery. At the same time, I took her for a very special photo shoot and I'm sure you will love the results. Head over to Morgan's page where I take you directly to the latest news, including some pics of her happy back in the country.

One of the saddest things in life is to have to let go of your family home. Our Sydney house of 32 years, the home my parents built on the quarter-acre block they bought in the early '70s, was sold this year and my mother moved out in September. Check out my ode to a home.

My girlfriend Leanne from Geelong came up to Sydney to visit me at the beginning of September. She brought her family along and there are some nice Sydney-style photos here.

The reason for Leanne's visit was the Countdown Spectacular, which was a major event in my musical life, largely centred around the exciting reunion of our favourite Australian group, Sherbet, in August and September. I have put a fantastic page together about the whole experience, with great photos taken by me, Leanne and the one and only Bob King. Do yourself a favour and check out that link.

30 November 2006

Okay, the first thing you need to know is that I have not left the planet. I am still here, and have been soooo busy these last few months that I haven't even had time to share all the news with you about what's been keeping me so busy. But I can tell you it's all been BIG stuff. So hang in there, faithful Debsite visitors, and I'll get everything updated for you as soon as humanly possible. I'm working on it!

Summer is here - yeeeaaahhhhh!!!

6 August 2006

One of my current PR projects, Jamm 4 Genes, came to a head on Friday night. Tied into Jeans for Genes Day, the music industry fundraising campaign put on live music around the country in support of the Children's Medical Research Institute. Last Friday happened to be the coldest August day in Sydney in the history of the universe, but everyone got warmed up at the Jamm 4 Genes VIP event at the Civic Hotel. A couple of pics are here.

Last week marked the one-year anniversary of the release of my book, Songwriters Speak. The great news is that the book is still selling! Haven't got yourself a copy yet? Want to find out more? There's a whole website within a Debsite on my book, so click on through to Songwriters Speak.

Nothing else to report from the last two weeks unless you're interested in the details of the filling replacements I have endured at the hands of my dentist, Michael Finkelstein (who is the best dentist in the world, but oh it hurt!). The next couple of weeks involve some travel  I'm off to Byron next weekend to do some business and celebrate my birthday with good friends, away from Sydney's endless big freeze; and the following weekend I'm heading down to Melbourne for some other business and a catch-up with other good friends in a city that is probably going to be even colder than Sydney. Ahh well, spring is not too far away now.

22 July 2006

Another long gap between news updates! I have just been soooo busy! Here's some of what I've been doing.

Trying to keep warm, for one thing! Man, what a cold winter we've been having in Sydney. I hate the cold. I mean, I really hate the cold. I don't care how many lovely warm woollen clothes there are to wear and how many sexy boots there are to slide my feet into, I really truly hate the cold. So, having said that, my job at the Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, a jolly good place to work, entails working in the elements. The Authority puts on a series of outdoor concerts and festivals through the winter months  to encourage Sydneysiders to come out and enjoy their city, of course! I've been on duty in some really freezing conditions at some great events, and have the photos to show for it.

My beloved Sherbet, the best Aussie pop band of the '70s, is finally reuniting for some performances in August/September, headlining the Countdown Spectacular. Liberation Music is releasing some re-mastered, re-striped and re-packaged Sherbet material, and my pals Garth from Sherbet and Dean from Liberation thought I should be involved. Head over to the Kruger PRofiles page to see how I've been able to play a role in this major event.

In June I went to launch for the new Don Walker album, Cutting Back. A really fine collection of songs by one of Australia's very finest songwriters. He's in my book, Songwriters Speak, of course. So, the band he put together for the album, and to perform with at the launch, has a name I can't write here, but check out the launch invitation to see for yourself.

I went to a lovely wedding a few months ago. My friend Amber, who worked at APRA when I was there, but left the organisation not long after me, married her honey, Stuart, a radio announcer at 2UE. There is a lovely photo of the bride with the unmarried one here.

In May I made a rare trip out to the Blue Mountains to visit my pals Simon and Marcus. Nice pics here.

There are new dogs in the Dog Days section of the Debsite! Quite a few, including pooches that belong to a couple of my Foreshore Authority colleagues, a very cool studio dog, and a darling thing I met in Hawaii last December, who has been waiting so patiently to be uploaded to the site. Go on over to Canine Friends and scroll around to find Astro Boy, Ernie, Coco, Spiro and Nalu.

10 June 2006

I have just been too too busy to even share news with you in ages. Dang, I hate that. Sydney's ultra-cold winter has put me out of sorts, I have been coughing my insides out for weeks, while working like crazy on all my different projects. If you're in Sydney this long weekend, brave the vile weather conditions and come on down to Darling Harbour for the Jazz Festival that I've been publicising. I'll be the one in ten layers of fleecy gear including my prized Stella McCartney for Adidas pale pink jacket that I've been waiting for a chance to wear.

I did step out last week for two super fabulous events  the glitzy red carpet premiere of The Break-Up, featuring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughan, on Monday night (how Jen survived in that strapless dress on the coldest night in living history is beyond me!), and the Split Enz concert at the Entertainment Centre on Thursday night. As I have been looking and feeling less than spectacular lately, there are no pics of myself to share with you, but believe me, I was there.

30 April 2006

I thought it was time I updated the Kruger PRofiles section of my site, given that my PR business is currently booming! If you head on over there you'll see I'm working with a couple of great clients  Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and Jamm 4 Genes  and plan on being very busy in the months ahead.

My favourite Scottish songstress, Eddi Reader, was in Sydney last week and we had a great catch up. Click here for the buzz.

Morgan turns 15 this week, so I've put a new portrait of her on her special page. Take a look and marvel and her beauty and grace. Oh, how I love my sweet precious angel dog.

15 April 2006

Happy Easter and, if you're one of the chosen people, Happy Pesach as well. I am already stuffed with matzoh and Easter eggs, and it's only Good Friday! Oy! I was going to be in Byron Bay for the Blues Festival for Easter, but work commitments have kept me in Sydney. Whether you're staying at home or travelling, please keep safe over this long holiday weekend.

10 April 2006

I popped along to the launch for Richard Clapton's new album last week in Sydney's Newtown. A pic from the night is here.

A belated but heartfelt mention must be made re the passing of Gene Pitney last week. What a great entertainer he was, with a unique and sublime voice. All the tributes and obits have named his biggest hits, particularly "Twenty Four Hours From Tulsa" and "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance", wonderful songs written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and performed beautifully. But my favourite Gene Pitney moment was in 1975, with a song written by Tony Wells and Jay Denison. "Trans Canada Highway" was among the songs I joyfully sang along to on the radio at the age of 13, and I still feel a thrill whenever I hear Gene growl:You know a man of hunger is a man of fear
And being hungry for your love
Is being hungry for my blood
A jealous man can make a big man run
And I am running like the devil through the morning sun

RIP Mr Pitney  sing up a storm for the angels.

25 March 2006

A busy week just passed, not helped by the demise of my iBook's hard drive which rendered me computerless for a few days. It was like having my right arm cut off. Now that I am back in action, I'm working on the promised updates around the site. I've made some additions and changes on the Links page and added another book on Australian music (Anthony O'Grady's Cold Chisel, The Pure Stuff) to Essential Reading. The 2SM page has a couple of wonderful new photos featuring Sherbet (in the Alan Steele section), and there are new emails on the 2SM Feedback page.

Autumn is here. The nights are cooler, the mornings no longer steamy. Daylight Saving ends in a couple of weeks, and my tan is starting to fade. Ggrrrr, I hate winter in Sydney. Good thing I've got a lot of work on. I've got exciting new PR projects on the boil; more info on those down the track.

20 March 2006

It's been a while, I know, and I'm sure you've been wondering , "So where the bloody hell are you?" (with a nod to Tourism Australia). Well, I've been here, doing this and that. And I have a lot of updates that I'm working on around the Debsite, which I'll let you know about in the next few days, so be sure to check back. Meanwhile, I do have a report from a music industry event I attended last week, a benefit dinner in honour of record producer Peter Dawkins, attended by some of the greats of Australian music. All the buzz on that is here.

During my absence from these pages I did a LOT of film-going, in preparation for the big Oscars night a couple weeks ago. Not that I actually went to LA and attended the Oscars, but I do like to watch them on TV with a thorough knowledge of all nominated films. Brokeback Mountain was indeed robbed. Crash is a fine film, but Brokeback Mountain is epic and grand and should have won Best Picture. I loved all the films  Walk the Line, Capote, Good Night and Good Luck, Syriana (oh, why aren't I with George???) and while I wasn't wild about Transamerica overall, I did admire Felicity Huffman's unsettling performance in it. The cowboys rule, George Clooney rules, Johnny Cash rules... a great year of films!

28 January 2006

The Sydney Festival has come and gone, and my sole interest this year was in the internationally renowned conductor/pianist/organist Wayne Marshall, who was here to conduct and play with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for their annual concert in the Domain. Wayne is an old friend of mine from the Brisbane Biennial days. We had great fun catching up. Check out pics from his visit and performance here.

Still reading, reading, reading. A couple new music books have been added to the Essential Reading page. One is a bit of a throwaway, a guide to depressing songs  ho hum  but the other is worth checking out: Chrissy Amphlett's memoir, Pleasure and Pain. Go check out my comments and ratings.

I haven't met Libby from Geelong, the new canine friend in the Dog Days section of the site, but her owners are old friends of mine and that's enough to warrant her inclusion. Check her out here.

You'll be pleased to know that in between torrential downpours and overcast skies, when the sun has been shining, I have been basking in its rays, and so my Hawaiian tan has endured thus far. Yes, I use sunscreen.

9 January 2005

Aloha and Happy New Year, belatedly. I arrived back from Hawaii last week with a glowing tan that has faded fast in Sydney's non-stop downpour over the past six days. It's taken me this long to get up to speed and, finally, do some important updates to the Debsite.

First, of course, is the list of my Top Ten CDs for 2005. Fiona Apple came out ahead last year with her long-awaited and sumptuously grand Extraordinary Machine. Neil Diamond's 12 Songs was a late starter but is currently getting the most airplay in the car CD player. Yes, Neil Diamond. Don't even think of mocking until you've heard it. You will be stunned. The list features some usual suspects (Robert Lamm, Venice, Shelby Lynne) and some surprises. Check out what my ears have been enjoying on my Top Ten Lists page, which, in case you're wondering, is buried away in the BAY-FM section of the Broadcaster section of my site! One desired outcome for 2006 is for me to be back on the airwaves. Stay tuned.

Time for some Essential Reading. I've been studiously looking through my new prescription Prada sunglasses by the pool in Sydney and on the heavenly beaches of Oahu. Barney Hoskyns' new tome, Hotel California, is required reading for anyone who shares my taste in serious songwriting, singing and playing from Southern California in the Sixties and Seventies. I had a little role in helping Barney with his book, helping him with a contact for one of the pivotal interviewees, and doing photo research  delving into the archives of Henry Diltz, natch. (Interesting aside, my JD Souther interview, which Barney quotes in his book, is one of the most popular spots on the Debsite.) Meanwhile, my interviewing mentor, Paul Zollo, has a new book out about one of his heroes, Tom Petty. Check out my ratings on the Essential Reading page.

Before Christmas I met my best school friends for our annual eat-drink-and-be-merry night in The Rocks. Nice story about this occasion. Read all about it and see pictures here.

A couple of new clippings on the Songwriters Speak Press page, including a snippet from the prestigous collectors' magazine, Goldmine, in the USA.

A great new photo in the 2SM Jocks Gallery featuring the beaming faces of Barry Chapman and David White along with the late, great Harry Chapin.

Last November I went to see John Fogerty in concert and never got around to mentioning it, but last week I went along to one of the Doobie Brothers' powerhouse Sydney shows, and I have a great pic from my trusty pal Bob King there, so go to Music & Mayhem,click on "Latest Concert" and check it out.

22 December 2005

This will be my last news post for the year as I'm off to Hawaii tomorrow for a well-deserved break. I'll be back in the new year, when I will belatedly post my ten favourite CDs for the 2005 and there will also be some updates on the Essential Reading page, as I've been reading my little eyes out lately and will be doing more of that on the north shore of Oahu. Happy Holidays to all of you and I'll see you  or you'll see me  in 2006. Aloha!

27 November 2005

Wow, I can't believe the year is almost at an end. I have so much to get done  including on the Debsite  before Christmas, and I'm still recovering from all that has happened in the last six months or so, from my Songwriters Speak book release to my latest PR gig. I have just emerged from a stint doing PR for Apple Computer. There is a whole new book that could be written on that experience. And might be!

30 October 2005

Daylight saving is finally here and summer is well and truly on its way - hooray. I've been deeply immersed in PR activities of late, but Songwriters Speak continues to simmer away in the background. I caught up with one of my songwriters, Chrissy Amphlett, at her own book launch last week, while a major feature I wrote for the (sydney) magazine months ago finally hit the streets. Check out These Days for all the details including pics from Chrissy's launch. Or just click here to go straight to the magazine article.

3 October 2005

The Songwriters Speak CD is now available through Amazon in the US and the UK, so I've provided some links from the Songwriters Speak CD page especially for overseas fans of the book who'd like to hear the music as well.

Happy New Year  L'Shana Tova  to you chosen ones out there. For a humorous Rosh Hashana message, check out Shofar Idol.

25 September 2005

About time I tended to other areas of the Debsite now that the initial craziness of the book release has subsided. Some new feedback is up on the 2SM Feedback page. Speaking of 2SM, during my publicity blitz for Songwriters Speak, I was honoured to be interviewed by the Mighty Whitey, David White, who had also attended my book launch. I put to him that we might get together some time for a Whitey Chat, so I can put some of his fabulous recollections of his 2SM days on the site. So that's a project for me to complete before the end of 2005.

I went to see the incomparable Jimmy Webb here in Sydney earlier this month and there's an exclusive pic, courtesy Bob King, on the Music & Mayhem page. Click on "Latest Concert" to see.

22 September 2005

There are plenty of new interviews and reviews on the Songwriters Speak Press page, including some video from my TV appearances and many audio clips from my radio spots. Lots to check out and hopefully motivate you to buy my book... if you haven't already. I've been getting some great feedback and will put a comments page together some time soon.

26 August 2005

Finally I have uploaded a fabulous selection of photos from the Sydney book launch of Songwriters Speak and from the launch and panels at the Byron Bay Writers Festival. You can see them all at on the Songwriters Speak Launches page.

17 August 2005

So busy have I been with all this book publicity that I let my birthday pass without comment on the 14th. Belated wishes are always welcome! Meanwhile, there are more press clippings and radio interviews on the Songwriters Speak Press page. I'm winding up my media commitments for the book over the rest of this week, as well as working on a major magazine feature and finally sorting through those book launch photos. And then I'm embarking on a new PR project which I can tell you about soon. Never a dull moment in the World of Deb.

11 August 2005

What an incredible 10 days it has been since my book was released!! I have done a LOT of media interviews, some of which are available to see and hear on the Songwriters Speak Press page. (You'll also find some great new photos there.)
I have had two fantastic book launches  one at the home of Glenn and Jo Shorrock in Sydney on August 2, which was attended by no less than 12 of the songwriters in my book; and a second launch at the Byron Bay Writers Festival with Rob Hirst and Deborah Conway on hand to speak and sing for me.
Yes, I have been travelling, too. Four days in Byron as a guest of the Writers Festival, a day in Brisbane and then two days in Melbourne, all packed with interviews. Did you see me on GMA with Bert Newton on August 10? Or maybe you saw the big news story about my Sydney book launch on Channel 10 News on August 3. And there is much, much more coverage to come. It's HUGE!! While I am still trying to keep the Press page up to date, I haven't even begun to start putting the dozens of fantastic photos from the launches and festival up on the site, but keep watching as the Songwriters Speak site grows.

1 August 2005

It's "P" Day!! That's P for Publication. My book, which has consumed me for the past few years, is out! In case you missed the fetching banner on the front page of the Debsite, you can get to the special site for Songwriters Speak from here.I have a busy couple of weeks ahead. Tomorrow is the big launch here in Sydney, then I'm off to Byron Bay (hooray!!) for the Byron Bay Writers Festival, where I will be speaking on a couple of panels and having another launch for the book there. From there I head up to Brisbane and then down to Melbourne, to spread the

word on radio and TV! There will also be media appearances in Sydney and write-ups in the press, and I'll be doing my best to keep track of the coverage to share with you on the Songwriters Speak website.

9 July 2005

My interview with Ken Done was published this week in the Melbourne Weekly and Melbourne Weekly Bayside magazines. Click here to check it out.

26 June 2005

There are a few new messages on the 2SM Feedback page, including one from ex-jock John Carroll, giving us an update on his whereabouts. He sent through a great photo which is also up on the page.

The countdown is on to the release of my book, Songwriters Speak. Click on the title for a preview of what's to come when I launch the new section of the site dedicated to the book and accompanying CD. I'm not giving much away yet, but at least you can see the logo.

5 June 2005

If dogs are the reason you come to the Debsite, you'll love the two new cuties, Stella and Bella, on the Canine Friends page. Scroll down and you'll find them nestled between Emilie and Scrappy.

26 May 2005

Vale Graham Kennedy, the king of Australian TV, who died today. Back in 1979 I went with a group of friends to a taping of Blankety Blanks at the old Channel 10 studios in Sydney's North Ryde. They taped three shows and I don't think I have ever laughed as much as I did that night. The Cyril jokes were ruder than ever. I'm so glad I had that experience of witnessing the Graham Kennedy magic in real life.

17 May 2005

I went to see Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds in concert last night. This in itself would not be so remarkable but for the fact that until a year ago I never would have even considered seeing Nick Cave in concert. It's nearly a year (May 25) since I interviewed the great Mr Cave for my book, and I'm now quite a fan. Some lifelong friends will never believe it, but it's true.

13 May 2005

I've added a few photos to These Days, to share a few happenings in recent weeks, including a visit from radio guru Wayne Mac, and an encounter with Australian artist Ken Done. Click on through.

The former 2SM junkies keep coming out of woodwork. A couple of nice new emails are on the 2SM Feedback page.

21 April 2005

I thought it was time to revamp the Links page a bit, updating some banners and adding a couple of new links. There are some good sites there so check the page out some time.

16 April 2005

Still tweaking. When I was moving house in February I went through some old school folders and thought they'd be fun images for my Killara High Days page. Check them out if American history and Othello are your thing.

15 April 2005

I've done the tweaking. Just a few updates. New photos of me and Morgan on the Morgan the Angel Dog page. Incredibly, Morgan is about to turn 14, so be amazed at how fabulous she is looking. Elswhere, there are a few new bits on the 2SM page. More feedback on the 2SM Feedback page. And one or two little touches in other parts of the site to surprise you if you happen upon them.

14 April 2005

"Where have you been?!" I hear you cry. Fear not, I am here. Just wading through the mire of getting my book to publication. It's all coming together very quickly now  the cover has been designed, the pages have been proofed, the publicist is on board (yes, I am handing that over to someone else, and gladly!) and launch events are being planned. Much last-minute communicating with various songwriters over lyrics, songs for the CD that is coming out with the book, and other bits of business. Just got off the phone with Paul Kelly... you know how it is.

I am constructing a new section of the Debsite to accommodate all the info on my book. That will go live in July. Meanwhile, I am also enjoying the last throes of Sydney's summer, trying to keep fit, trying to catch up with email correspondence, and tweaking other parts of the site. I'll post another little news bulletin when those tweaks have been tweaked.

20 February 2005

I have been SO busy lately!! Two major things took place in the last three weeks  I finished the writing and editing phase of my songwriters book and Morgan and I moved house. Both events were torturous in their own way. Work on the book is by no means over, but I am very much on my way to its July release. Keep checking in for more details as the year progresses.

As this is pre-Oscars season, I've been seeking relief from book and moving stresses by escaping to the cinema a lot. I've seen just about every film nominated for a major award. My favourite overall would have to be Million Dollar Baby, a Clint Eastwood masterpiece, but I suspect The Aviator, also a great film, will scoop the Best Picture Oscar just because it is so epic. Leo has my vote for Best Actor, although Don Cheadle comes a close second for Hotel Rwanda, having pipped Jamie Foxx's Ray Charles impersonation to the post in my eyes. All great work.

2 January 2005

Happy new year to all. Let's hope 2005 works out okay. My year ahead includes the release of my book in July, plans for a second book, a house move or two, and hopefully lots of good times with good friends, good music, and wishes for health and prosperity. Oh, and I might even work on the Jetsetter section of the site, too.

A few weeks ago I was lucky to be seated in the third row of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall for Brian Wilson's Smile concert. It was glorious, and capped off a great year of concert-going that included two Eagles shows, the Finn Brothers and Jackson Browne in Sydney; Chicago in Melbourne; Robert Lamm and America in Auckland; and Venice in Los Angeles.

Brian Wilson's Smile album just edged out the Finn Brothers' Everyone Is Here from the number one spot on my list of ten favourite CDs for 2004. It was a great year for music, with Linda Ronstadt issuing one of her best vocal efforts yet, and  much to the amazement of most of my friends  Nick Cave finding a regular place in my CD player. Check it all out on my Top Ten Lists page.

I finished Bob Dylan's Chronicles today. What a wonderful and very different kind of memoir. I've added my rating to the Essential Reading page in the Biography & Memoir section.

A few photos from the annual Christmas dinner with my Killara High friends can be viewed here.

Morgan's been a bit neglected on the Debsite lately. Check out the latest news on my angel dog on her very own page here.

5 December 2004

My goodness it's been a while! Sorry for keeping you all hanging on the edge of your seats. I have just been so busy, racing towards the deadline for my book, which is scheduled for release in July 2005, and working on various other projects in my PR guise, which I'll talk about some other time. For now, I'll tell you about various site updates and what I've been doing in the rest of my world.

The boys have been back in town, after a nine-year wait. At least hell didn't have to freeze over to bring them back. I'm talking about the Eagles, of course, and today I am in a post-Eagles haze. Check out the details here. My dear Don, all is forgiven.

Saw the Finn Brothers in concert at the State Theatre last Thursday night. Pure magic.

There are some new messages on the 2SM Feedback page. They keep on coming, as more and more people discover the wondrous shrine that is my 2SM page. Must get around to adding some new audio this summer. Well, yeah, there's Jetsetter, too, I know...

Don't you love how the internet brings people together? I've made lots of friends online over the last eight years, and have also reconnected with long lost friends because of my web presence. For many years I was trying to find my Masada College friend Desiree DeSpain and at last she found me. She's in Springfield, Missouri and we hope to catch up next year some time.

There is a new article in the Freelance Writing section, this time with Prunella Scales, who is in the country doing her Queen Victoria stage show. Check out my piece on her here.

There's a new book on the Essential Reading page, in the Australian Music section. This one is Mark Dodshon's Beds Are Burning  Midnight Oil: the journey. I'm actually trying to read Bill Clinton's autobiography, but every time a new music book takes my fancy, Bill gets put on the backburner. Now he's in line behind Bob Dylan, which he probably wouldn't mind.

Speaking of the Oils, I went to see Rob Hirst and Paul Greene doing their acoustic duo thing a few weeks back. Really good music. Check out their website for more info.

My good friend Justin Fleming premiered his new stage work, Satango, at the Stables Theatre on November 10. Photo and blurb here.

I shuffled up the red carpet for the premiere of Bridget Jones Edge of Reason on October 28, but didn't get my photo taken  sorry to those of you who hanker for these pictorial evidences  as my favourite photographer was somewhat preoccupied snapping the gorgeous Renee Zellweger. Great film, though. If you need a good belly laugh, go see it.

I went up to Byron Bay for a flying visit (well, I drove as usual) in October. The land is ravaged by drought but it is always so good to touch base with my soul place and see good friends.

I reached a major milestone with my book in October, completing my final interview - number 43! It was with Archie Roach, a most inspiring artist, who I caught up with the morning after the Deadly Awards.

25 September 2004

A couple of new additions to the Essential Reading page. In the Biography & Memoir section, I've now listed Walter Yetnikoff's fabulous warts and all memoir, Howling at the Moon, along with Bad Seed, a Nick Cave bio by Ian Johnston that I read for research purposes. I've also updated the listing on Paul Zollo's Songwriters on Songwriting, as he put out a new edition last year.

More messages on the 2SM Feedback page, with some great memories from fellow 2SM junkies and a nice hello from radio star Jonathon Coleman, all the way from London.

15 September 2004

Another new article posted in the Writer section. This one is on Nick Cave, using just a bit of the extensive interview I did with him in England a few months ago. (The best bits will be in my songwriters book!) The article is published this week in the Melbourne Weekly Bayside magazine. You can read it here.

Information on DV1, a new client I'm working with, is on the Kruger PRofiles page. My big project is the Australian theatrical release of the controversial documentary, Outfoxed, about Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Network and its decidedly right-wing approach to news reporting.

It's Jewish New Year so L'Shana Tova to everyone who observes. May the coming year be infinitely better than the last.

12 September 2004

So much updating to do... so little time. While I work furiously towards the deadline on my songwriters book, I took some time out this evening to do some tweaking here and there on the site. To start with, These Days has some photos from my recent birthday dinner with school friends and also some pics from the freaky hailstorm we had in Sydney last Sunday which turned my neighbourhood into something very white and wintery indeed.

Some sad news to report (belatedly) about Morgan's mother Sandii and a new pic of Morgan in action on the Morgan the Angel Dog page.

Some tweaking in the 2SM section of the site. Check the 2SM page for a jingle change up top, a new treat for Alan Steele fans, a new and informative link at the bottom of the page and, thanks to Graham "Robbo" Roberts, a jock at 2SM from 1969-1973, some fun new pics in the Jocks Gallery for all those former 2SM junkies who have been nagging me about Mad Mel and other earlier DJs. There's a nice new photo of George on the Gibson and Moore page, as well.

4 September 2004

I have finally updated a couple of sections of the Debsite. A long time coming, I know. There is much more to do but this is a start. First, I have posted some recent (and not-so-recent) articles I had published in the Melbourne Weekly magazine. There's a little piece on Chicago's visit to Melbourne in January, told from the perspective of some long-time Chicago fans down there. Then there are features on singer-songwriter Deborah Conway and actress Caroline Craig (a must for Blue Heelers fans!). Head over to Freelance Writing for your reading pleasure.

At last I have added about a dozen new messages to the 2SM Feedback page. The emails were received over the past few months and sat languishing in the "To Reply" mailbox of my email program, so I feel much relieved to have finally responded to all.

I rarely go to the theatre any more, but last night I went to the newish Sydney Theatre for the first time to see the Cheek By Jowl production of Othello. What does it say about me that 25 years on from studying the play for my HSC I could recite nearly every quote verbatim? Is it the power and poetry of Shakespeare that it never leaves you once it has taken hold? Is it the influence of my great English teacher Lynne Matthews? Or is it just that I have no life? Whatever, but there is no better recourse, when you find yourself confronted with an Iago-like villain (and let's face it, we all know at least one of them) than to say: "O Spartan dog, more fell than anguish, hunger or the sea!" Great stuff.

14 August 2004

Another year has flown by and here I am, a birthday girl again. I know there are many of you who wait breathlessly each year for the chance to send me a birthday greeting, so bring it on. I'd love to get an email from you. There are four candles on the cake, yes, and obviously I am a little older than that. But still young enough to like having a fuss made over me.

My favourite astrologer, Jonathan Cainer, says that this week's New Moon takes me one big step closer to fulfilling far more of my true potential, and that I should get ready for a metamorphosis. As long as nothing Kafkaesque is involved, I'm ready and willing.

19 July 2004

There is no excuse for the current Sydney weather. Breaks my heart to think I was in 102 degrees farenheit in Palm Springs just five weeks ago, and now I am here in this ungodly winter of discontent. Sorry, it's my annual gripe about the cold weather. To see me smiling instead, check out a couple of new pics taken last Friday night at a music industry party.

Over the last few months I've received quite a few more emails about my 2SM page but haven't had time to respond, or to put them on the 2SM Feedback page. So I'll do my best to get around to that this week.

3 July 2004

Wow! It's a long time since I've done this much work on the site. Several new pages brimming with pictures and tales. Yes, the Jetsetter section finally has some signs of life in it. Not the whole section complete  oh please, that's still eons away  but I have put up some good stuff on my trip to London, San Francisco and LA, which I just returned from. Plus there's a link to the 40th birthday party I celebrated in LA two years ago, which was always hidden away in the site. So go on, get thee to Jetsetter. Don't forget your Melatonin.

27 June 2004

Writing to you as I emerge from a jetlag haze. Yes, I'm back! During my long absence I have been working my butt off and travelling. I had intended to update you while I was overseas but it just didn't happen. However, I am presently working on a section about the trip I've just returned from and should have that online before you can say "When will you ever get that Jetsetter section up!" Meanwhile, I've just updated the Canine Friends page with some new photos of dogs in locations as far apart as Sydney, Austin TX and Surrey in England.

14 April 2004

Sorry for the lack of news during this difficult time. Hopefully things will be back on track soon. Work on my songwriters book continues in earnest and there might be some overseas travel soon to wrap up interviews. Meanwhile, here in Sydney I was lucky enough to be in the audience for Jackson Browne's solo acoustic show at the State Theatre last night. Of all the times I have seen JB in concert, this was probably the most special. An incredible three hours of song from one of the greats. And he's still so cute, too.

22 March 2004

I am sad to report that my darling father, Lou Kruger, passed away in the early hours of March 17, last week, after a long illness. He made possible so much of the exuberance that you have seen in evidence across the pages of this website, through his unconditional love and support through my life.

Thanks to all the friends here in Sydney and around the world who have sent kind words over the last five days. It is a great loss, of course, but I am comforted by knowing that he is in a good place now and breathing freely.

2 March 2004

The response to yesterday's article has been coming in thick and fast. Check out the 2SM Feedback page to read some of the emails I've been getting, including one from former 2SM mover and shaker Jaan Torv.

1 March 2004

The 2SM page has made the news! Today's The Guide supplement in the Sydney Morning Herald has run a nice little story about me and my 2SM shrine. If you're in Sydney, run out and get a copy. Otherwise, click here.

21 February 2004

My week in Melbourne was very productive and totally exhausting. No more long-distance driving for a while, please! Chicago played the closing set of the Melbourne International Blues & Music Festival; it was totally surreal to have them back in Australia at a poorly-attended festival and in Melbourne only, but at least they were here. The Pretenders, Bryan Ferry and Bonnie Raitt were all in fine form, too. Following my weekend at the festival, I did five interviews for my songwriters book and had a few related meetings. All good stuff.

A couple of minor additions to the site this week  nothing too exciting, I'm afraid. A new book in the Songwriting section of the Essential Reading page, called You Must Remember This..., which is a dated but useful resource on some of the more important 20th Century songwriters and composers, from Cole Porter to Neil Diamond. Recommended to me by Graeham Goble, who is one of the songwriters featured in my own book. Also, a groovy new pic on the 2SM page of a couple of my favourite jocks from the '70s.

6 February 2004

Since Tamworth I've been to Auckland and now I'm in Melbourne. Absolutely exhausted after the 10-hour drive down here today! I'm here to attend and do some work at the Melbourne International Blues & Music Festival over this weekend, and to do five interviews for my songwriters book next week. More on all of that later. This news post is to let you know that while in Auckland, as well as spending some time with the Finn brothers for my book, I attended a showcase performance by the wonderful Robert Lamm, whom I've raved about elsewhere on this News page (eg see 3 Sept 2003 post). I've put together a page of photos from the showcase, which also featured members of Chicago, here.

26 January 2004

Yeah, it's Australia Day. Blah blah blah. Sorry, you won't get any patriotic platitudes from me. I did get back yesterday from the Country Music Festival in Tamworth, which is a blatantly Australian event to go to. My fourth year at Tamworth and lots of fun as always. I had some photos of songwriters taken for my book, being that Tamworth in January is a great place to pin down songwriters, talked about the project to a lot of industry people, and generally schmoozed in that Deb way. I'll try and get some pics up on the site later this week.

Last night when I got home from Tamworth, I dashed into the ABC Radio studios here in Sydney to be a guest on a BBC program being broadcast from here. Ed Doolan hosts a show on BBC in Birmingham and is quite a celebrity. Originally from Australia, Ed found me through my 2SM page last August and decided I would be a fun guest to have on air when he did his annual live cross from Sydney this year. Among the other special guests was none other than Ian MacRae, who then went home and checked out my site again, and today he sent me some interesting new feedback. Check out the 2SM Feedback page for that and other recent messages from devoted former 2SM junkies.

I'm coming to you from my brand new Apple iBook and having failed dismally at my attempts to upgrade my site to GoLive 5 early l ast year I've jumped straight to the 7th version of this groovy web design software - GoLive CS. Scary stuff for someone who doesn't have a clue how it works!

10 January 2004

It's Sydney Festival time and I've been out the last couple of nights partying and watching theatre. Check out some pics from the Opening Night Party here.

2 January 2004

I'm not sure that it's a good omen for the year ahead that the only animated gif I could find for 2004 was a toilet roll!! Those who know me well might assert that it is wholly appropriate... Nevertheless, the new year is upon us and while I have not made any resolutions, I have many hopes and dreams, plans and commitments. I wish I could say completing the Jetsetter section of this site was a top priority among them, but my songwriters book and my family are taking precedence for now. Still, this site will always be a work in progress and I hope regular visitors will continue to check in often to see what's happening in my world.

28 December 2003

Another year gone by, another list of my favourite CDs of the year. This year was an unusual one for me in that I missed a lot of the new music out there, so immersed have I been in researching the catalogues of Australian songwriters for my upcoming book. So my list probably won't bear much resemblance to anybody else's top ten. But regardless, the number one CD of 2003 for me, no matter how much other music I was listening to, was always going to be Robert Lamm's supremely brilliant effort, Subtlety & Passion. Check out the whole list, which includes harmonious groups influenced by some of my favourite Californian bands, and traditional folk songs and poetry given modern interpretations by some of my favourite contemporary female singers, on my Top Ten Lists page. And have a happy new year, okay?!!

24 December 2003

Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to all the loyal Debsite visitors out there! I'll be back with one more news update before the year ends so be sure to check in again.

4 December 2003

This morning I popped along to the hear the NSW Premier Bob Carr announce the finalists for the 2004 Golden Guitar Country Music Awards. You can check out the list of contenders at the CMAA website, and you can see some pics of me hob-nobbing with country music greats here.

30 November 2003

Just a bit of tinkering this weekend... more messages on the 2SM Feedback page, an interesting new item on the Australian Music Media page (for Flashez freaks) and a photo I have been meaning to add to the Younger Years page from way back in 1969 of the first group of kids at Masada College.

23 November 2003

Wow! Sorry for the long delay in news and updates. It's not easy reviving a business, writing a book AND maintaining a Debsite. Shamefully the Debsite has taken a back seat. But today I've done a few bits and pieces. To start with, the 2SM page, which is due for some loving attention this summer, has a couple of new audio clips and a new pic of Macca. And the 2SM Feedback page has a few new messages.

I wrote another article for the Melbourne Weekly, this time on writer and historian, Jonathan King, who has a book out called Gallipoli Diaries. You can check that out here.

Speaking of Gallipoli, my favourite film is Peter Weir's Gallipoli and Weir is my favourite film director. His new film, Master and Commander, has its Australian premiere in Sydney this Wednesday night and I will be there on that red carpet with bells on!

Calling all Chicago fans - the boys are heading down under in February 2004. Sadly, they are only doing one show, at the Melbourne Music & Blues Festival. They'll be in New Zealand for a couple of performances prior to that and Robert Lamm, whose latest solo album, Subtlety & Passion, is set to be at the top of my ten best CDs for this year, is doing a solo showcase in Auckland, too. No idea why he has chosen NZ for all this attention. Happily, I'll be going to Auckland to see him. Even more happily, I'm helping out with PR for Chicago's Melbourne appearance. I am, after all, Australia's foremost authority on the band.

25 October 2003

Today really should be the beginning of the summer season here, being that tonight we move the clocks forward by one hour for daylight saving, or summer time. So wouldn't you know it, Sydney turned on a dark, disturbing thunder storm with cool temperatures. I hate Sydney's endless winters and just cannot understand people here who complain about how hot this city is. Yeah, maybe for a week or two now and then.

But enough whining. This time last week I was in the Whitsundays in Queensland, enjoying an afternoon on magnificent Whitehaven Beach. I spent four days in and around Mackay interviewing songwriter Graeme Connors for my book. Good pics to share when I get the new Book section up on my site, and good pics for Jetsetter, too, but I think everyone's given up holding their breath waiting for that to appear. One day... I promise. There is a new dog on the Canine Friends page, though, a certain Bonnie from Mackay, the first tropical doggy to grace my site.

Meanwhile, I have a couple of new books listed on my Essential Reading page in the Australian Books section. I read Rob Hirst's Willie's Bar & Grill in preparation for my Midnight Oil interview in my own book, and I just finished reading the tepid Long Way 'Til You Drop, the supposed exposé of what went on behind the scenes on the Long Way To The Top tour. Always worth checking out my book reviews as my library of music books is pretty extensive.

2 October 2003

Okay, so here's the news. I recently left APRA, where I was Manager Communications and Public Affairs for nearly three years. Loved the job, but something more exciting came up! I've signed a publishing deal to write a lengthy  I'm talking HUGE  book on Australian songwriters. The deal was signed a few months ago and it became clear that I just wouldn't have time for a full-time gig any more. I've been busy interviewing some of Australia's most important songwriters here in Sydney, in Melbourne, and overseas (I did a couple of fantastic interviews in Los Angeles last year). In a couple of weeks I'm heading up to North Queensland to interview one of the country's best musical storytellers. I won't give you any more specifics at this stage, but eventually there will be a section of this site dedicated to the book's progress.

Meanwhile, not wanting to lose touch with my penchant for PR, I've decided to revive Kruger PRofiles, the business I first started in Byron Bay nearly 10 years ago. So I've made some changes and additions to the PR Whiz section of the site. Life is very busy right now!

29 September 2003

Happy New Year and be well over the coming fast, to all my Jewish friends and site visitors.

I went to Slim's funeral last Friday. It was a beautiful event, a fitting tribute, and as a state funeral it was peppered with politicians and of course it was star-studded. RIP Slim.

And then on the weekend Robert Palmer died, aged 54, of a heart attack in Paris. Of his solo work I best liked "Johnny and Mary," but my favourite Robert Palmer work was the Power Station project he did with John Taylor and Andy Taylor from Duran Duran. RIP Robert.

You can't please all the folks all of the time. My 2SM page attracts a lot of hits and a lot of positive feedback from old 2SM jocks and fans alike. Today I heard from the great Ian Grace, who I knew best from his days at Triple M in the late '80s. Ian wasn't happy with my description of 2SM's "demise" from 1982. He felt I should have paid more regard to the success the station had under his direction with the Rock of the '80s in 1983 and 1984. I've posted his comments on the 2SM Feedback page, but my defence will always be that I was a child of the '70s and my 2SM page is a tribute to that specific era of the station, not before and not after.

Stay tuned for some BIG news that I will share with you this week.

19 September 2003

Oh my. In this black September for the music industry, Australia has lost one of its greatest cultural icons. Today the great Slim Dusty passed away, aged 76. I spoke to his wife, Joy McKean, only yesterday and she hinted that it would not be long. A sad day for Australia. You can read the official statement on Slim Dusty's website.

13 September 2003

... And now I have woken to the news of Johnny Cash's passing. What a great man and a huge loss. This has been one heck of a year for losing great music figures. RIP Man in Black.

8 September 2003

Vale Warren Zevon 1947-2003.

3 September 2003

I've just received what I am sure will be my favourite CD of 2003  I knew it before I even heard it because a release from this artist is always an experience of exquisite joy. It's on my CD player as I write and I am not disappointed. It's Robert Lamm's new work of genius, Subtlety & Passion. You can check out sound clips from it and buy it from Robert Lamm's website.

Just back from a whirlwind trip up the coast to Byron Bay in my trusty Rav 4. Saw the accountant, checked up on my house, picked dozens of perfectly formed avocados from my trees, went to friend Karena's 50th birthday celebrations... And got out of Sydney for a few days, best of all! As always, the BC posse was in its usual place at the Byronian Cafe. New photo added for those who care.

Morgan the Angel Dog did not accompany me on the trip up north, but she had a happy event herself recently, with a genuine mother and child reunion right here in Sydney... Her mother Sandii made an appearance and you can find out all about it on Morgan's page.

There is also a new doggy friend on the Canine Friends page, a darling boy named Owen I met in Melbourne recently.

Don't say I don't keep you informed of all the exciting news in my life!!

14 August 2003

It's my birthday today. Hip hip hooray. I'm a Leo and I like attention, so birthday greetings are most welcome if you feel like sending me an email.

I've made a couple of additions to the Essential Reading page: a charming autobiography by Rolf Harris  yes, Rolf Harris  and a gorgeous book on songwriting put together by Graham Nash and a company he helped found called Manuscript Originals, which produces limited edition reproductions of hand-written lyrics by songwriters. You can find out more at the wonderful Manuscript Originals website, but do go and check out the book, which is called Off The Record  Songwriters on Songwriting. Not to be confused with Paul Zollo's remarkable book, Songwriters on Songwriting, which has a new expanded edition and I hope to one day receive my new copy. (Hint, hint, Paul. See note about birthday, above.)

And... a new freelance article I wrote for the Melbourne Weekly, on director/actor Lindy Davies, can be found here.

5 August 2003

Through my 2SM page I have come into contact with many people involved with the station during the 1970s or who were big fans. I've even made a good friend in Mandy Maier, who worked at 2SM as Barry Chapman's assistant in the '70s. Mandy had a party recently at which a number of other old 2SM people, including a few jocks, turned up, and we all posed for a photo which you can see here. Specifically for fellow 2SM junkies like me.

17 July 2003

I've been discovered by Media Man! Who is Media Man? He's a guy named Greg Tingle who has his eye on a big time career in the Australian media, and who has a nifty website which includes interviews with interesting people in the media. Which now includes me. Click on over to read the Debbie Kruger interview.

10 July 2003

I've written a cover story for the Melbourne Weekly on the founding members of Little River Band, Birtles, Shorrock and Goble, which I've added to the Writer section and which you can read here. I'm off to Melbourne next week to catch them in concert for a DVD they're putting out later this year, and to meet up with some other music industry folks on some special business. More details on that soon.

Winter in Sydney sucks. My girlfriend Sharon in Palm Springs tells me it's 117 degrees (farenheit, obviously) over there right now. Sounds just about right for me. I'm California dreaming in a big way.

19 June 2003

Two nights ago the Australian music industry held an intimate tribute night for a production manager/roadie who had a reputation as one of the best, not only in Australia but internationally. I went along to to pay my respects and catch some great performers doing their best thing in honour of Wane "Swampy" Jarvis. Best and most groovy of the performers was Sherbet, specially reunited for the occasion! So cool. Check out some pics of the boys courtesy my pal, photographer Bob King, here. And to see me schmoozing with another old face from the '70s, head over this way.

8 June 2003

Sydney has a reputation for being a hot humid city, but let me tell you, for at least six months of every year it is a cold, cold city. Winter is here and I don't care how sunny and crisp it is, it is far too cold for me. I'm California dreaming in a big way right now. Nevertheless, I dragged myself out into the chill last night to see Cold Chisel on the final show of their mini reunion tour, ringside at the Hordern Pavilion. I became a Chisel fan rather late in the piece  after they had broken up in 1983  so I had to wait 20 years to see them. It was worth the wait. Shame their brilliant musicianship and songwriting finesse was lost on most of the Triple M-listening air-punching macho yobs in the audience. Just ducking the flying beer cans now.

25 May 2003

Another book to report on, this one a rolicking good read from Stuart Coupe on the Australian rock promoting business called The Promoters. Check it out on the Essential Reading page. Just off this afternoon to a session at the Sydney Writers Festival with Coupe about the book.

10 May 2003

Moving house and other life events have kept me away from the site lately and I'm sorry about that. I just added a new book to the Essential Reading page  Living in the 70s by Alison Pressley  but it's nothing to rush out for.

15 April 2003

Debsite updates are a bit thin on the ground lately. Lots going on in the background, though. I'm moving house, for one thing... very stressful! A nice antedote to that was seeing Olivia Newton-John in concert last night. What a doll. Hearing all those sumptuous John Farrar songs live with an orchestra was very cool. Biggest delight, though, was her kinky new arrangement of "Physical"  wonderful. Long Live Livvy.

Happy Passover and Happy Easter to all.

4 April 2003

Finally today I finished the 678th and final page of The Ultimate Biography of the Bee Gees. I started this a year ago, then put it down for months, then picked it up again late last year, determined to read it through. Maurice's death came as I was half way into it and I continued to plough through. Alas, the book does not live up to the music, but you can read what I have to say about it on my Essential Reading page.

1 April 2003

It's been a while since any updates of significance. I've been trying to upgrade my version of GoLive (the software I use to build this site) but it's not been without its problems, so I've avoided working on the site for a few weeks. Hopefully all will be resolved presently.

Meanwhile, I spent a week in Melbourne doing some interviews for an exciting project I will be able to tell you about very soon! I was busy with other activities, too. I found myself in the third row, dead centre, for Bruce Springsteen's opening concert for his Australian tour, and possibly was the only person at the Telstra Dome not swept away by The Boss. I also attended the world premiere of Ned Kelly, the movie starring Heath Ledger, which I thought was fairly average. I saw a wonderful one-man monolgue play called Little Black Bastard written by and starring Noel Tovey. I went to a live screening of the Oscars with all the Melbourne film industry people. I ate too much and I caught up with some dear friends. I drove there and back and came back via the Princes Highway and the impossibly green pastures of the Bega and Bodalla areas on the NSW South Coast. Heavenly.

13 March 2003

I've done a bit of updating to my poor neglected Links page. A few of the logos have been changed and links to a couple of very groovy Seventies sites have been added.

6 March 2003

The latest issue of APrap magazine is out this week and is full of interviews by yours truly. Head over to the APrap page of the Writer section to see new pieces on Peter Sculthorpe & Tim Freedman, country songwriters in Tamworth  specifically Catherine Britt, Melinda Schneider and Michael Carr  and a Bondi-based nu-metal band called Cog. Yep, it's an eclectic offering!

19 February 2003

The Australian media would have us believe that if we were not at the Rolling Stones concert last night we weren't living, but I went to see Jackson Browne at the Sydney Opera House and living or not, I was in pure heaven. Just wanted to share that with you.

16 February 2003

The 2SM page has LOTS of new audio in the form of promos and jingles, bringing my history of the station in the late 1970s alive. And there's still more to come. Basically, my 2SM shrine has become a site within a site! Elsewhere in the Broadcaster section there are a few minor additions to the Australian Music Media page, including a famous Triple M jingle. Only worth listening to if your ears have brains.

10 February 2003

I am gradually adding new audio files to the 2SM page. To stream or to download, that is the question. For now I'm going for the download option  it takes a bit longer but the listening quality is better. I've added some more new pictures and trade ads, too.

2 February 2003

Well, it sure has been a tragic time in Australia and the world lately... bushfires have ravaged Canberra, a train has derailed south of Sydney killing at least nine people, and the space shuttle Columbia has crashed. But last night I saw James Taylor in concert and for two and a half hours the world was a beautiful place. If you don't have it yet, go and get his latest album October Road, my favourite album of 2002. (See news item for 17 December below.)

I'm back at work on the 2SM page. Today I have made several updates, finally uploading the transcript of the Chapman Chat (my lengthy conversation with Barry Chapman last November), a Feedback Page containing messages I have received from people who worked at or listened to 2SM in its 1970s heydey, and some new photos, including the famous B&T trade ads featuring the faces of all the jocks and behind-the-scenes personnel at the station back then. I still have a lot of audio to add to the page, but that will take more time.

27 January 2003

Just back from the Country Music Festival in Tamworth and still feeling a little exhausted from all the partying after the Golden Guitar Awards on Saturday night! Some pics from the APRA-hosted cocktail party in Tamworth, as well as some pics from the party following the Birtles Goble Shorrock gig I went to a couple of months ago, are now on the APRA page.

There are also a couple of new pics on the These Days page of the Sydney section from a visit to Sydney by a dear old school friend, Andréa. A link mainly for KHS friends, unless you're just really bored today!

And the biggest update so far this year  as promised, Dog Days is finally done!! Find out about my precious pooch Morgan and other canine friends in Australia and the US. If you're a dog lover, head on over.

13 January 2003

Very hard to focus on anything today except Maurice and the Bee Gees. So much misinformation and crap in the media, labelling them a "disco band" and using cliche after cliche. So I sniffed around for the best links for news and tributes. The best fan site I could find was For the Love of the Bee Gees. Another good place to share your grief is at Bee Gees World. Intelligent stories are in the Miami Herald, The Guardian and BBC News. Oh, and did you know Maurice Gibb was a dog lover? Check out the Pet Tribune to find out more.

12 January 2003

An incredibly sad day... I am deeply moved by the death of Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees. Too young, too soon, too unfair. Only twice before has the death of a musician affected me in this way: 25 years ago (23 January 1978) when Chicago's Terry Kath died, and in November 1991 when the great Freddie Mercury passed away. With one-third of the Bee Gees' beautiful vocal sound gone, the world will never sound quite as sweet.

I've recently renewed contact with some old Variety colleagues from the London bureau and it turns out there is a fantastic site for Variety alumni called the Simesite, so I've added a link to it from my Variety page (the page that tells you all about my high-flying days as a showbiz scribe in the late 1980s).

2 January 2003

Happy New Year!! Just back from 12 glorious days away, mainly in Byron Bay. Nice to have a suntan again. Expect additions to Byron Bay Bliss presently... and Dog Days is on its way, as promised.

19 December 2002

This will probably be my last update before I disappear for my end-of-year holiday break. The latest issue of APrap  the APRA members' journal  has just come out and my cover story is an interview with Paul Kelly, which I have now added to my Writer section. You can read it here.

17 December 2002

It's that time of the year when I put together my list of my Top 10 new albums for the year. I'm afraid 2002 has been a pretty lack-lustre year for new releases that have really grabbed me. James Taylor tops my list, and I almost didn't buy his October Road (even though I'd loved Hourglass) until JD Souther insisted I buy it, and if JD says get JT, then who am I to refuse? It's a sumptuous treat of gorgeous melodies and soothing vocals. The rest of the list may or may not impress you, but it's worth checking out, and if you haven't found my Top Ten Lists page yet, it's worth a visit.

14 December 2002

At last I have a new section up on the site. It's the Byron Bay Bliss section, all about my life and friends (human, bovine, and equine) in Byron Bay and its environs. My next project is Dog Days  I know there are a lot of dog loving people out there hanging out for that one, and it will happen in the new year.

8 December 2002

The offers just keep coming since my appearance at Don't Give Up Your Day Job (see 9 November below). My latest performance was at the APRA Christmas Party. Details are here.

3 December 2002

I've just finished another good music book, this one on songwriting. It's called Behind The Muse. Still haven't checked out the Essential Reading page? Go to it!

20 November 2002

Another APRA Awards night this week... this time the Screen Music Awards. A couple of pics of me in action plus a link to all the details can be found here.

14 November 2002

I've just finished reading a book called Exploding about the history, highs and lows of the Warner Music Group, and have added my rating to my Essential Reading page. If you haven't discovered this page yet, please check it out. It's buried deep in the Broadcaster section and quite a treasure trove of information on books about music. All books listed are in my personal library.

9 November 2002

Last Thursday night I performed at a music industry benefit called "Don't Give Up Your Day Job." It was a blast. For all the info plus pics of yours truly in rock chick mode, click right here.

26 October 2002

The 2SM page has a few additions, thanks to the resourcefulness and generosity of Wayne Mac. The page is now a work in progress so keep checking in.

18 October 2002

As mentioned on the site's front page recently, I just spent six weeks in Los Angeles. While all the news and pictures from that great trip will eventually make it onto the Jetsetter section (yes, the section really will happen!), you can take a peek at the photos from my 40th birthday party in LA by clicking here.

Before I went off to LA in August I celebrated my birthday in Sydney with a wonderful afternoon soiree. Pictures from that are here.